Dragonborn Gothic - The World-Eater
by gothicjedi666
Summary: After my XBOX360 was finally repaired I spent the weekend on a Skyrim binge. Now I just have to write Dragonborn Gothic or I will go nuts. Normal warnings for my stories and no this won't involve any crossovers. Well at least not in book one.
1. Chapter 1

Author Note: After my XBOX360 was finally repaired I spent the weekend on a Skyrim binge. Now I just have to write Dragonborn Gothic.

My more keen readers might point out that Necromancer Gothic should know that the Dragonborn is another version of himself. However I think its safe to assume that two versions of myself can look different enough that in the confusion going on at Helgen they each didn't realise that they could be twins.

Also given that Skyrim is a big place and Necromancer Gothic took steps to avoid the Dragonborn so as to not get in his way it is possible for them never have to encountered each other as they'd be seeking out different things and going to different places. Last of all assume that Necromancer Gothic moved into Blackreach after Dragonborn gets the Elder Scroll. There's no reason for Dragonborn Gothic to back to Blackreach after getting the scroll.

The First Gothic also spent most of his time in Solitude or at the College Of Winterhold which are places Dragonborn Gothic has no need to visit as he will be based around Whiterun which is several weeks travel away due to the roads not being so direct

So while it might seem silly to have three Gothics in the same place it could actually work out.

**Dragonborn Gothic. Part One. **

**The Keep. Helgen. Skyrim. **

"What the fuck!"

That was all I could seem to say as I found myself playing my favourite video game, only this time it was for real.

"What the fuck!"

How had this happened. All I remembered was that I'd sent my Xbox360 off to be repaired and as soon as I had gotten it back the first game I'd wanted to play was Skyrim. So I'd started up a new game and then gotten sort of sucked into my Xbox.

"What the fuck!"

What the hell had the guy fixing my games consul done to make this happen?

No wait, this was just silly. There was no way this was really happening. I couldn't be inside a video game it made no sense.

Yet here I was in Helgan's Keep with that Imperial who guides you out. He was currently looking for a healing potion or some such in order to treat his burns.

Okay so it must be a dream and I knew how to wake myself up from a bad dream.

"Ow"

Well pinching myself didn't work.

"Come on grab a sword!".

A sword?

Right yes I needed equipment and a weapon.

Wait hold on I didn't know how to use a sword. I'd be more likely to stab myself in the foot than to kill one of the Stormcloak rebels. Plus I'd never actually killed a person before so I wasn't sure that I could kill someone even in self defence.

Hadvar, if I remembered his name right, came over to me and passed me the kind of sword used by the Imperials. It was heavier than I would have imagined and it looked very sharp.

:Play the game.

At first I thought that was Hadvar speaking but it wasn't him or at least it wasn't him in the driving seat anyone. His eyes had gone black like those demons from Supernatural.

Without thinking about it I lifted the sword and pointed at Hadvar's chest.

:You can't kill me with that.

The voice was somehow entering my mind as Hadvar's lips weren't moving.

"What the fuck!"

Still seemed to be the only thing I could say and who could blame me. So far today I'd been arrested, carted off to my doom, had my head on a chopping block, seen someone who looked a bit like myself feeling Helgen, oh and the highlight had to be a bloody dragon laying waste to an entire town.

"What the fuck!"

:Calm down.

No I would not calm down I wanted to sit down and have a nice panic attack about now.

:Calm down. Play the game.

Play the game. Oh hell no I wanted to go home, to go to a place were people weren't trying to kill me.

:Calm Down. Play the game. This is what you have always wanted. This is your chance to fulfil your desires.

The voice was oddly hypnotic and it was starting to get to me so I found myself obeying. And anyway it was good advice as panicking would just get me killed.

:Play the game and you will be rewarded. Play the game and you will have everything you have ever desired.

Well that didn't sound so bad. I liked the idea of being rewarded. Maybe if I finished the game I could go home.

:You don't want to go home. Everything you desire is here. Glory, wealth, women and all the power you could ever want. Armies will march under your banner. Towns will pay you tribute to avoid your wrath. Dragons will bow before you. And worlds will tremble at the mention of your very name".

Yes. I would very much like that.

:A life of adventure awaits you.

That actually sounded rather good. A life of adventure would be nice I'd been getting a little bored back home. Perhaps a chance of pace would be nice.

:See the future.

A thousand images went through my mind. They were so fast that I could hardly make sense of them but I caught some of mental pictures before they faded away. They were scenes mostly of myself. Sometimes I was in battle. Other times I was in bed with many attractive women. There were even images of me singly handedly slaying dragons. The last thing I saw was myself on a throne surrounded by feasting warriors and scantly glad females. For some reason that image felt very right as if it was a place I was suppose to be.

"I don't know how to fight" I muttered as I realised the flaw in my envisioned plans for the future.

All those things I'd seen looked promising enough but I had no means to bring them about.

:You will in a moment.

A searing heat filled my body and it felt some sort of energy fill me. It came in wave washing away many of my fears and doubts while leaving new strength behind. The experience made me feel as if my entire body was now filled with power. But more than that, for the first time ever I felt my soul and I knew it was somehow more than it had been before.

Then as suddenly as it started it stopped. I shook my head and the universe seemed to start up again as Hadvar become himself once more. He seemed rather annoyed to find my sword digging into his chest.

"Sorry," I apologised while lowering my weapon "I'm a little shaken up".

Actually I didn't feel that shaken up now. If anything I felt better than ever. Even the sword in my hand felt lighter and a new confidence filled me. However I must of still looked very scared as the long haired Imperial seemed to accept my explanation and tried to reassure me.

"Just stick with me and you'll be fine".

Yes I felt sure that now that I would indeed be fine.

I decided not to put on an Imperial armour as that would only declare to the world that I was an Imperial, which granted I seemed to be in appearance, but I wasn't part of the Legion and given that they had wanted to chop my head off it was understandable as to why I didn't want to be thought as one.

In any case I'd stand out enough in what I was wearing. There couldn't many people in Tameril wearing all black steel toe cap boots, denim jeans, and a leather jacket. Oh well at least I was dressed for the weather what with wearing a t-shirt and a thick jumper.

"Prisoner, this way" called Hadvar.

Following the Imperial I went down a passage and heard voices.

"Stormcloaks" needlessly informed Hadvar "maybe we can reason with them".

Fat chance of that.

The fight started soon and for a moment I simply stood still as I had no idea what to do. Then a rebel with a oversized hammer game right at me and I reacted without thought. I moved to the side and the warrior went right past me. The momentum of his blow meant that he couldn't of avoided my strike and the sharp blade went right into the Nord's back.

So that was what killing somebody felt like. Odd I would of thought I'd be feeling guilt but I only felt a sense of relief that I was still alive and just a little pride in that I had won the very short but also very intense fight.

Hadvar looted the body of the man he'd killed and pocked a few coins. Not wanting to draw more attention to myself with odd behaviour I joined in and looted my defeated opponent.

This gave me a chance to inspect my foe. He was a fair haired man, older than me and he had a savage look on his face. He was dirty and covered with dust but I didn't see anything else wrong with him. For someone living in a medieval setting he looked rather healthy, aside from being dead.

I patted my slain foe down and found a small money bag. It contained what I assumed to be the local currency. The coins weren't just gold like they were in the game there was also silver and what I guessed to be bronze coins filling the bag.

So they didn't just have gold coins here then. Well that made sense to me as it was doubtful that any society could get by on one form of money. If it was all just gold then the price of basics like food would astronomically high.

I had no idea how many of the bronze coins were worth a silver piece or how many silver pieces were worth the single gold piece I now had but I wasn't going to worry about it. No doubt I'd be able to get some decent loot before we got out of this Keep.

"Come on we've got to keep moving" urged my Imperial ally.

Personally I didn't see what the rush was. The sounds of the battle above had now faded. The World-Eater was likely gone since his mission here had been save the Stormcloak leader Ulfric. With the rebel leader free once more the civil war would continue and Alduin would have plenty of warrior souls to feast upon in Sovngarde. Destroying Helgen hadn't been the point so the dragon wasn't going to stick around here while his kin needed resurrecting.

However I couldn't explain this to Hadvar so I just had to follow him into the dungeons were we encountered more of the rebel scum.

This time I faced a women not a man and that made me hesitate for a moment and in that moment she managed to hit me in the head. Thankfully she miscalculated the blow so it was only the side of her axe that hit me so my head wasn't to badly damaged. Even while on the ground I managed to ignore the pain and stab her in the stomach before she could adjust her weapon for a downward stroke that would of ended my life.

"Your hurt" commented my comrade in arms " I'll get you a potion".

After drinking down something that healed me really quickly and oddly tasted a little like what I imagined watered down blood to be like I was back on my feet.

"Grab what you can and let's move on" suggested Hadvar.

Ah more looting, this part was actually rather fun.

I patted down the dead woman's body and made sure not to touch her in anyway that might be considered sexual. Necrophilia wasn't my thing and I was starting to feel a bit bad about killing her given that she was a female. But I reminded myself that she had wanted to kill me and would be looting my corpse right now if things had gone just a little differently.

After my search I found a few more coins, no gold this time, and a silver ring. Had she been married or was this ring just something sentimental or maybe even magical?

Well it wouldn't do her any good now and I might need the money later so I took it and put it in a pocket. I didn't have much room for the spoils of war so I told myself that I would have to limit myself to coins and jewellery, at least until I figured out how adventures moved their loot around.

It was then that I noticed how easily I was fitting into this new life. It hadn't been that long ago that I was about to have a panic attack and now I was fighting like a seasoned warrior in D&D campaign.

What the hell had that demon done to me?

While I was thinking about demons warping my mind, my feet had carried me down into the dungeons. My mind returned to the present just in time to see the torturer unleash magical lightening upon a rebel Nord.

I so had to have that power!

Hadvar ran ahead and killed the Stormcloak who had killed the torturer's assistant.

While he was doing that I went to the cage to get the spell-book but it was locked. Damn it.

Hadvar then took the time to quickly show how to pick a lock while the torturer said.

"Sure take all my things"

Given that he was currently pocketing anything he could find of value from the bodies of the rebels and his own assistant I didn't feel too bad about looting the dead mage.

I considered swapping my clothes with the dead magic users and trying my hand at magic but it was a little gruesome to wear a dead man's clothes. More so given how blood stained they were, or at least I hoped it was just blood.

However I had to have the spell-book so I grabbed that and opened expecting the book to vanish and for me to suddenly know the spell.

"You have to read the entire book" explained my Imperial guide "or at least that's what I've been told. I never had much use for magic spells myself and I couldn't afford to learn if I did care to".

Given the price of the average spell-book in the game I could understand this. Anyone in this world could become a spell caster but they couldn't afford such a career and the college only took in those who already showed some skill.

That likely meant I wouldn't be attending higher magical education myself but I knew that a person could become quite skilled in spell casting if they had the chance to practice and spell-books were sometimes offered as rewards by Wizards so I might be able to gain some spells.

However for now I didn't have the time to sit down and read a book so I grabbed the dead mage's bag and secured the book within it. The bag was a normal bag and it didn't match my outfit but given that I had limited pocket space it was a good idea for me to take it.

Then once more we were on the move and I marvelled at the fact that I wasn't at all tired despite being out of shape and a bit overweight. Perhaps my enhanced physical power had something to do with whatever it was that demon had done to me.

I would of spent some time worrying about the cost of such favours only I didn't get the time as there was more fighting ahead.

Without thought I ducked as an arrow came at me. Since I'd seen it coming soon enough to do something about it I had to wonder if my reflexes had been increased as well as my physical strength. But again I had no time to consider the changes.

Hadvar charged into the fray and since I knew that my survival depended on the Imperial being alive to guide me out of this place I went to back him up.

After dodging another arrow I wished for a bow of my own as unlike sword fighting I knew how to use a bow having been trained in archery. Also being Welsh it was sort on in my blood.

However I didn't have a bow so all I could do was charge into a fight and cut down the archer. The sword I held in my hand must of been very well cared for and its sharp edge served me well once more as it slide into flesh. The bowman coughed up blood as he died my sword having cut into his stomach and up into his ribcage.

It scared me a little how killing had so quickly become part of my life. A few hours ago I was the kind of person that felt bad about seeing a dead bird and now I was slaughtering human beings with ease. It also bothered me how little it bothered me. Sure I was a little worried about my new found affinity for battle but mostly it felt good. I was starting to get a rush from the experience.

Still I had little time to think things through as a Stormcloak with a spiked mace screamed and then charged me just before slipping on the steps.

Had he not cracked his head open on the rock I would of laughed at the scene but there was nothing joyous about all this death. Yes it was necessary in order to survive but there wasn't nothing good about it.

Then an arrow whizzed right past me and I realised that there was a second archer. I ducked again and the bowman moved to get a better shot but he was now close enough to me for me to try something.

If I remembered right Imperials starting this game have two spells. Healing and Flame. I hadn't yet tried either but when I needed to know how to create fire the knowledge was waiting for me inside my mind.

A stream of flame leapt from the palm of my left hand and struck the Nord right in the face. He screamed horribly and backed away which gave me enough time to run up the stairs (using the body of the Nord who had cracked his own head open in order to avoid slipping) and a heartbeat or two later my sword claimed another life.

I could now feel the blood rushing through my body and thrill of being alive which didn't fade even after I looted the bodies for the few coins and small personal effects that they had.

Hadvar and I moved on after that but not before I picked up a bow and a quiver full of arrows. I must of looked very strange wearing modern day clothes and carrying medieval weapons, but my appearance didn't concern me right now I was too busy trying to stay alive to care about silly I might look.

"Bear" whisper my Imperial ally as we came across the large hibernating mammal.

At this point I got confused because I remembered there being a lair of Frostbite Spiders somewhere around here but so far I hadn't seen as much as a web. Then again why would a bear hibernate near some giant spiders. There had been a bridge and some tunnels between the bear and the last stormcloaks that we'd seen. Given the noise of the rushing water it was possible that the bear was unaware that were humans about but not animal would make itself vulnerable by sleeping while giant spiders were about.

"We can to sneak past it or take it out with a bow. Its your call".

It seemed odd that Hadvar was letting me decided. Perhaps he was testing me in some way.

"Let's try sneaking" I decided "if it wakes up we can run for it before it realises what's going on".

Even if we did wake the bear up it was unlikely to be that alert as soon as it woke up so we should have time to leg it if the beast did awaken.

Thankfully for once things went right. I even had time to inspect the upturned wagon of wine bottles that had been left in this cave. Smugglers I guessed. Some attempt to avoid paying taxes on imported goods if I was any judge, they wouldn't be able to grow grapes in this climate so the wine must of come up from Cyrdoil.

I took the small money bag that was in the wagon but I didn't touch the wine. The clanking of glass bottles was a loud noise and I didn't want to walk up Yogi since I didn't have a picnic basket to distract with.

Soon after that Hadvar were out in the sunshine and the frigid air, both of which I was very happy to experience once more.

"Thanks I never would of gotten out of there alive if it weren't for you".

"True," I replied "but I'd of died without your aid so consider us even".

The Imperial gave me a nod of respect before saying.

"We should split up for now, but my Uncle is a blacksmith in a nearby village".

I knew it well but I was ensure of how to get there.

"Head towards the river" he instructed while pointing out the way "then follow the path. You can't miss it".

He needn't of worried. I had a rather good sense of direction thanks to spending so much of my childhood wandering the streets and wooded areas near my home. And I also knew that if you followed a river you'd eventually reach a settlement next to it. If nothing else Riverwood had a mill of some sort on top of the river and that would be very hard to miss

"I'll see you there" I assured the Imperial "once I've done my shopping I'll find the town's blacksmith".

Blacksmiths were very important people in this type of society so even if Riverwood turned out to much larger than the game portrayed then I would have no trouble finding him as every native of the village would know him very well.

Hadvar then started to walk away and I was left wondering what do to next. I decided, after some though, to go and visit those stones that bestow gifts upon people based on a star pattern.

It seemed a good a place to start as any.


	2. Chapter 2

**Reviews**

**Selias **

Actually I plan for DB Gothic to SIMPLY pay someone else to make him dragonbone armour and weapons out the slain dragon just outside of Whiterun. In real life they wouldn't leave the dead bodies of dragons just lying around and if the Dragonborn can learn to make armour and weapons from dragon parts then someone must already know how to it or at least be able to figure it out. Of course it would expensive and take time but since he slays the dragon he can claim the corpse as the spoils of war its not like anyone would argue about it with the guy who just slew a dragon.

**Dragonborn Gothic. Part Two.**

**The Guardian Stones. Skyrim. **

"I confess myself somewhat disappointed".

The words left my mouth without my consent but they were too softly spoken to draw the attention of man or beast so I didn't worry about being overheard.

As to why I was disappointed, that was because the stones that were suppose to act as some sort of connection to the stars were about as impressive looking as moss covered boulders. In fact that was pretty much what they were, it seemed that no one had bothered to take care of these valuable magical tools.

"Warrior, mage, or thief" I muttered to myself.

Despite the poor state of the stones the patterns on them were still visible and I could see the three choices ahead of me.

Becoming a mage was tempting but I knew that unless I had some sort of great and very well hidden skill at magic it was unlikely that I'd advance very far in that field. I also got the feeling that this destiny was meant for somebody else, although how I knew this was a mystery to me.

The idea of taking up thievery as a career/fate wasn't even worth a moment of my attention. I was no purse grabbing crook and I had no desire to live a life on the run if I ever got caught stealing.

These skills could allow me to become a rather good assassin but that also didn't appeal to me as killing innocent people for money just seemed plain wrong to me.

So that left warrior.

Becoming a warrior, now that did appeal to me. I'd gotten some very practical experience in that field today and while killing still felt a little wrong to me I had to admit that I had a talent for it. Also given how dangerous this land was I wouldn't be able to avoid taking lives. With that in mind selecting the stone that would enable me to quickly learn how to fight seemed to be the smart move.

:If you become a mage you will die at the hands of a Necromancer.

I span on the spot and had my sword pointing at one of the local hunters. He like Hadvar had black eyes. The demon was back.

:I am not a demon.

Given that these creature was possessing people and talking right into my mind, while also reading my mind, I had a lot of trouble believing that statement.

:I am the Traveller.

Strange that name or title seemed to mean something to me but I had no idea why. I only knew that this Traveller shouldn't be here. More so than I shouldn't be here in fact. There was a sense of wrongness about this creature but also it seemed to be connected to me somehow. It was very freaky and I didn't really want to think about why a demon showed such interest in my life.

:Chose the path of the warrior and the visions I gave you will come to pass.

Well yeah assuming I didn't die at the hands of much more skilled warrior or end up imprisoned in a Jarl's dungeon for banditry.

"Fine I'll do it but you better leave me alone".

The possessed hunter said nothing and simply watched as I placed my hand on the stone of the warrior. The pattern on it lit up and I felt no different but I knew it had worked since the whole stone started to glow. I had declared myself a warrior and the stars had decreed it to be so.

:Dragonborn.

Wait what? I turned again and saw that the hunter was himself again.

"Hello" said the confused Redguard "err do I know you?"

Shaking my head I told him that we'd never met until now and that I was just passing through.

"It's getting dark" remarked the hunter "where are you heading?".

"Riverwood" I replied honestly.

The dark skinned man seemed nice enough so I saw no need to lie to him, and if he was still the demon he could read my mind so telling a falsehood would be pointless.

"Oh well the paths dangerous, but I'll escort you for a few coins".

Assuming this wasn't some trick the offer was a good one. There could be bandits or wolves ahead like in the game and I wasn't quite ready to go solo in the wilderness.

"Sure" I said.

The Redguard quickly packed up his camp and we were soon on the road. I was amazed that he could carry all his equipment, the locals must be quite strong compared to people back home and that made my own increase in might all the more impressive.

"Are you going to Riverwood to trade?" inquired the hunter as we walked down the path.

I noticed that the man was speaking softly (as to not draw attention to us) so I match the volume of his voice.

"No I'm going to met someone" I explained "and maybe get some provisions".

More likely than not I'd end up spending the night in the local inn, but that didn't bother me and it was a much better idea than wandering the wilds at night. This was a world haunted by werewolves, evil witches and many kinds of undead. Only a total fool would travel about after the sun had set.

My Redguard escort suddenly grabbed my shoulder and urged me to get down as a deer crossed our paths. I was about to protest this action as deer are skittish creatures more likely to run from us rather than try do us any harm but as it turned out that wasn't why we were hiding.

A wolf was stalking the deer as it peacefully drank from the river. I was amazed that I saw it given the lowering light levels but I could clearly see the predator slowly moving closer to its prey.

"Forget the deer" ordered the hunter "deal with the wolf you can see I'll take the other two".

Other two? Oh yes right wolves were pack hunters. Of course there would be others nearby.

Carefully I took aim with the bow using the best arrow I had. I stopped my breathing and let the projectile lose. The shot was perfect. The wolf dropped and the deer ran for it wisely assuming that it could be next.

Then I was alone for a while until the hunter returned holding a knife and carrying what I knew to be the fur of the wolves which had been neatly removed from the body.

"These will sell well" commented the hunter

The Redguard went onto skin my kill, and to clean it before he moved the bodies into the brush and started to clean his tools in the river. He then presented the fur of the wolf I had killed

"A good shot" was all he said on the matter, before picking up his things and moving further down the dirt road.

I felt oddly flattered and also rather glad that the wolf had been an animal rather than a person.

Now that I had time to think about all the death I had caused this day I started to feel a bit guilty, but I reminded myself again that everyone I had killed would of killed me without regret. The only reason why I was still alive was because I was better at than they had been.

**Riverwood. Skyrim.**

By the time my guide and I made it to the village the sun had set. The shop was closed and blacksmiths looked locked up for the night. The only signs of life came from the Sleeping Giant Inn which the hunter didn't want to sleep in for reasons he kept to himself. I however was very much looking forward to sleeping in a bed so I paid the man and said farewell before heading inside.

While the outside Riverwood looked larger than it had been in the game the inn was exactly right. There was bard belting out a tune, a rough looking guy behind the bar and the Elf, who offers archery training if I remembered right, sitting by himself in the corner. There were also a few unimportant characters hanging about and since I knew that they didn't matter I paid them no heed. And there also Delphine the Blade wearing her 'harmless innkeeper costume' she paid no attention to me nor did she look like she was rushing off to Whiterun any time soon.

I was tempted to go ask her for the attic room but that would just be silly at this point and also meaningless to her unless it was a code she had used before.

So rather than spoil the plot I went to the gruff guy behind the bar and asked for a room. It was a lot cheaper than ten gold coins for the night which was good because I didn't have two gold coins never mind ten. In fact it was all rather cheap. Two silver coins got me a room for the night, a hot meal and a beer. Not bad considering the prices for things in the game.

Soon after the meal was put on the table I was sitting at I was surprised by how hungry I was but really it shouldn't have been a surprise, it had after all been a very long and busy day full of activity and no time to rest. I should have been more amazed by the fact that I could still stand up.

Once my meal (which was rather plain tasting but very filling) was finished I took a seat by the roaring fire with my beer and started to read the spell-book I had acquired earlier in the day. For a few moments I wandered if the locals would object to someone reading a magic book but it occurred to me that while the locals might object to magic users they were not a stupid bunch of people and would know that its a bad idea to piss off someone who could burn the inn down around them with flames that shot out of his hands.

I was rather engrossed by the spell-book, as while the words and diagrams made no sense to me they didn't have to as when my eyes scanned the page the strange writing vanished and it looked as if nothing had ever been written there at all.

After what must have been a couple of hours, judging by now full bladder, I finished the book and then it vanished leaving the knowledge of how to create lightening in my mind. It was rather strange to have such information lodged into one's brain but it was well worth the effect as I now had another weapon in my somewhat limited arsenal.

However while this magic interested me I knew that the path of the warrior was my true destiny. I had little desire to go back to school and spend decades trying to achieve mastery over the arcane arts.

"There you are".

A familiar voice broke my train of thought and I looked up to see Hadvar taking a seat next to me.

"I was worried you might of gotten lost. I got in a few hours ago just before dark".

"A wolf pack delayed me" I explained while gesturing to the roll of fur that I had been carrying around with me "the shop was already closed so I decided to settle in for the night".

"Wise choice," the Imperial commented "its not safe around here after dark".

I got the sense that the danger that came with the darkness had nothing to do with the dragons, so I commented on this fact hoping for a reaction.

"Even less safe now that there are dragons about" I said.

Hadvar nodded to signal his agreement, but gave me no more information on what this other danger was.

"I'll be leaving in the morning. I have to warn the General".

He said the word as if everyone knew who he meant by the title. Granted I did who he meant but the guy's name escaped me. It something Roman sounding no doubt.

"Someone needs to warn the Jarl. Would you go?".

Well I had been planning to do just that but I might as well make it sound as if I was doing the locals a favour.

"Of course" I answered "I'll head out first thing in the morning".

In gratitude I was given a very well drawn map of Skyrim. Once I enfolded it I got to see that if the distance between Helgen and Riverwood was anything to go by it would take me the better part of a day to reach the Hold capitol of Whiterun.

I briefly considered heading up to Bleak Falls Barrow first thing tomorrow in order to obtain the dragonstone but it would look a little odd if I turned up with the relic in hand. In real life such an action would raise questions. Besides I wasn't in any rush I wanted to explore this world and to enjoy the game. Plus I had this odd desire to seek out some treasure and then hoard it somewhere safe.

That was when something that had happened earlier started to make sense. The demon must of given me a dragon soul. That would explain these odd urges and my sudden increases it fighting prowess. I now had two souls or at least I had absorbed some of the dragon's soul as it entered me on the way to that Soul Carin.

I wondered if that meant I could Shout now. I'd have to test this.

"Excuse me" I said to Hadvar before slipping out the back.

Before I could try the shout I discovered what they had in the way of sanitation in these parts.

They had outdoor toilets which stank but thankfully people used them so there wasn't human waste all over the place. I guessed that someone must empty them once it a while because it didn't stink as badly as it could. Thankfully I only needed to piss and I could do that behind a nearby bush.

I then tried shouting in the dragon tongue. I knew a few Shouts but nothing happened so I assumed the word walls acted a bit like spell-books and inserted the knowledge into a person's mind. Simply knowing the right sound to make wasn't enough. There was some sort of spirituality to it as well I guessed give that the only people around who could teach Shouts also happened to be Monks.

Seeing no point to standing around the back of the inn shouting words only a dragon knew the meaning of I headed back inside to find Hadvar preparing to leave.

"I'll be in Solitude should you find yourself in the area" he told me.

It was highly doubtful that I would ever be in that area as it would take weeks to travel that far and since I had no need to go to Thalmor Ambassy I wouldn't bother making the trip.

"You should think about joining the Legion" suggested the Imperial as he headed out the door.

I ignored the pro-empire propaganda he spouted as he left as while he sounded genuine I had no desire to get involved with the civil war as I had more than enough to worry about for the foreseeable future. In my mind there was no sense fighting the Stormcloaks, or even fighting with the Stormcloaks, when there was a world ending dragon that needed dealing with.

Once Hadvar was gone, hopefully out of my life for good, I decided to retreat into my room in order to get some sleep. The room was warm and clean (and once a chair was securing the door) relatively safe I drifted off into the land of nod. The desire for sleep having finally found me.

**Whiterun. Skyrim. **

Up until I saw the companions fighting a giant my journey from Riverwood to Whiterun had been a peaceful one. I suspected that this was due to the number of Imperial Patrols in the area. Officially Whiterun might be neutral in the civil war but it was clear that the Imperial Legion had a strong presence here. Well at least on this side of the White River.

Slowly I approached the somewhat friendly werewolves as they battled the giant. Having seen the blue skinned monsters in action while playing the game I knew that these werewolves were incredibly brave in daring to take it on.

As it watched it became clear to me that the companions were not going to win this one easily. A couple of them had been bashed aside and somehow they were still alive. But they were werewolves so maybe you really had to stab them with silver in order to kill them. Well even if that was true I was pretty sure that if the giant grounded them into paste with its club they would die even if there's wasn't any silver involved so I decided to intervene.

I was rather good with a bow so I readied an arrow and let it lose. Again was shot was perfect and the giant made a pain filled noise. Then it turned towards me and started to run.

"Ah fuck" I cursed.

Firing again another arrow fit ound its mark and but while the monster slowed down it didn't stop. Instead it started to limp towards me. My arrow must of struck an already bad wound in its leg. That was really fortunate and I wondered just for a second if I had a really high luck score on my character sheet. Still it didn't make much difference in the end. I was still rightly and truly fucked.

The giant was about to squash with its club but I managed to roll out of the way but now I was on my back and couldn't get back up because the club hit the ground so hard I'd been sent into a spin.

However my luck didn't let me down Aela the Huntress somehow managed to get onto the giants back. This gave me enough time to draw my sword and went the massive creature was facing me I drove my weapon into an open wound on the knee right next to my arrow. This understandable made the monster roar in pain and the other Companions ran up to finish it off. The massive man shaped thing died after the werewolves beat it to death in one very violent scene.

"Nicely done" complemented Aela who I noticed was really hot and not just because she was so warm she was sweating "you really help us out there".

I tried not to drool over the warrior woman but failed to hide my blush.

"Your welcome".

"Your strangely dressed, but quite the warrior you should seek us out at the mead hall. Perhaps you will join us at Jorrvaskr".

Me become a companion, and possibly even a werewolf?

Until now the idea had never crossed my mind, but I could see the value in becoming a werewolf. These guys could control their transformations and worked well together as team, or as a pack in this case. Having them as allies could be quite a bonus.

Also it would make things easier for me when I went to seek out the Word Walls as werewolves are, judging by what I had seen here, very hard to kill and also very tough. I could picture myself tearing through the undead of the Nordic tombs as I sought out the Words that would allow me to Shout.

On the other hand it seemed silly to be both a werewolf and the dragonborn because the two things just didn't seem to mesh. Would it actually work could I really become two kinds of supernatural being?

After some more thinking. I decided that the possible benefits outweighed the possible risks and if offered that I would take the blessing/curse.

"I'll do that" I promised the Huntress.

"Good" she replied "perhaps we will hunt together soon".

There wasn't much emotion in her voice but I could almost feel the excitement promised in such a hunt. She was inciting to say the least and had one hell of a body. If I proved myself maybe she'd sleep with me.

As the companions went to inspect the dead giant and Aela moved away my head began to clear and I wondered if female werewolves gave off pheromones that attracted males. If she did I didn't care much and I promised myself I'd seek her out again once I was worthy.

Moving on I headed out of the farm and finally it started to look as if I would make it Dragonsreach before the sun set.

As I walked towards the stables I noticed the sewer grate and foul looking water pouring out of it to collect in some sort of bog. I guessed this was where the sewage drained out but the wind was to strong to catch any scent. Not that I wanted to spell human waste.

Further up the path I did get a whiff of horse dung and I became further convinced that I really was in Skyrim. Illusions don't smell of anything and my dreams had never been this realistic.

Passing the stables I saw a sign forbidding animals from entering the city. Some sort of attempt to keep the city clean no doubt. It didn't apply to me since I didn't have a horse or any sort of pet.

Still the sign did make me consider getting a horse. I knew there was a lot of travel in my future so it would benefit me to purchase such an a beast. However that plan had two flaws. One was that I couldn't afford a horse and the second was that I didn't know how to ride a horse. Both of these problems could be solved with money as whoever ran the stable would be able to teach to ride a horse and would also be able to sell me one but I didn't have any money so it would have to wait.

Finally after what felt like hours of walking (which it had been given the distances) I made to the gate but my entrance was bared by two helmeted guards.

"Halt, stranger. By order of the Jarl no outsider may enter the city".

"Bugger".

I'd forgotten about that part and I was too tired to fight any more.

"I have a message for the Jarl from the people of Riverwood. It concerns the fate of Helgen and the matter of dragons".

The guards looked at each other, and then at me, and then at each other again.

"Very well, we shall let you in stranger. But be warned we will be watching you".

I could almost see the words 'Your speech craft skill has increased' as the doors opened and I entered the city of Whiterun.


	3. Chapter 3

**Reviews **

**A.W**

Well the Traveller likes to try knew things so he modified the Xbox360 so that this Gothic gets transported to whatever game he first played. When he loaded Skyrim the Traveller sent him there alongside Necromancer Gothic.

This Gothic is a warrior they to tend to have codes of honour and such so that's why he doesn't kill helpless people like children and those who surrender.

I did try to write Necromancer Gothic but I never got inspired for the story. Then again maybe I could give it another go.

**Author Note. **

To save confusion. Necromancer Gothic didn't use the name Gothic publicly as it's his Dark Lord name and Dragonborn Gothic never gets called Gothic much because well he's the Dragonborn who needs a name when you have a title like that.

**Dragonborn Gothic. Part Three. **

**Dragonsreach. Whiterun. Skyrim. **

As the last rays of the sun gave what light they could I finally made it the Jarl's throne room. Now I could give him the message and get the next quest from the Court Wizard before finding a bed to crawl into.

I'd never been so tired in my entire life but I dragged myself on knowing that my mission was a vital one. When the Dark Elf housecarl drew her sword I didn't even react I was just to tired to care.

"Who are you to disturb the Jarl?" she demanded to know.

It struck me then that this mer was the first person in this entire world to ever have asked me my name.

That was when time seemed to freeze and the Morrowwind native got possessed by the black eyed demon which called its self the Traveller.

:Tell her your name is Gothic.

I just couldn't be bothered to argue at this point so when the Housecarl was herself again I answered her.

"My name is Gothic. I have a message from the people of Riverwood its about Helgen".

The Dark Elf (thankfully not a Drow) put away her sword and introduced me to the Jarl.

"My lord this stranger, he is called Gothic, has a message for you from the people of Riverwood".

"What's the message then, speak boy!"

At once I knew that the Jarl didn't like me but his feelings towards me changed once I gave him the message and then told him first hand about the dragon at Helgen.

"Well done. You risked much coming here given that the Imperials want you for the block, but that's no concern of my mine. Still its impressive that you made this far given that you are a stranger to our lands. Perhaps... but no you look dead on your feet. Return tomorrow if you are willing I may have a task for you, one that will be well rewarded".

Right so that was tomorrows activities sorted out then.

Without being given permission I sat down at one of the feasting table that were to each side of the fire and rested my poor feet. I didn't hear a word of the discussion about sending troops to Riverwood but I knew what would happen well enough that I didn't need to worry if the villiage would get its badly needed protection or not.

"Proventus" ordered Jarl Balgruuf the Greater "reward our courier friend and then have a guard escort him to The Bannered Mare. The streets at night are no place for a weary traveller".

I flinched when he said the word traveller and half expected the demon to appear. But he, or perhaps it, had the good grace not to show up.

A guard led the way out after the Proventus handed me a small money bag and I was escorted to The Bannered Mare by a nervous guard.

"What's so unsafe about the streets after dark?" I asked of the guard as we approached the inn.

While Whiterun was much larger than in the game it was too well patrolled to be suffering say a major crime wave so something else had to be going on.

"Vampires" muttered the guard.

Oh that was just great! Vampires, I hate vampires!

At least this bit of news explained why the streets were so empty and why there was so much garlic around. I hadn't noticed it before but there were a lot of holy symbols and lit torches about as well.

Freaking vampires. Another good reason to become a werewolf, it took you off the dinner menu for bloodsuckers.

I made it into the inn and the guard vanished into the night and for a moment I wondered why the inn would be safer than the street given that the vampires of this world didn't require an invitation to enter a home and inns were open to the public in any case. But I soon discovered the locals had other ways of protecting themselves.

Garlic, they had a lot of garlic and holy symbols galore. A roaring fire was in the centre of the room with wooden torches resting next to it and several people were carving stakes. There were even a few members of the Dawnguard here armed with crossbows. I so had to get myself a crossbow if there were vampires around.

Someone pushed some garlic under my nose as you might expect it made me sneeze. Several people got edgy at this point but after symbols of the Nine (or Eight depending on your point of view) Divines had no noticable effect on me they somewhat relaxed.

Did garlic and holy symbols even work on the vampires of this world, or did people just think they did?

"Hail stranger" greeted the innkeeper "sorry about the not so warm welcome but we've got vampire trouble, and well your wearing black an' your mighty pale".

Well I wasn't that pale but until very recently I hadn't been much of an outdoors person so I could understand why they might think I purposely avoided sunlight.

"No I'm an adventurer" I assured the woman behind the bar.

"From far away if your clothes are any judge".

Sigh. I really should change my outfit, if nothing else it would help me blend in better.

"Yes very far. A whole other world really".

The owner of the inn seemed to take this comment in stride assuming that I was exaggerating for effect. Which I wasn't but she couldn't of know that.

"So what can I get yah"

"A hot meal, some beer and a room for the night" was my request.

Thankfully I had more than enough money to get by with as I'd sold off the looted personal effects of the Stormcloaks I'd killed before setting out from Riverwood and I'd even gotten a good price for the fur. No doubt the rewards for the coming missions would keep my purse full. At least until it came time to buy a horse and maybe even a house.

"I can do the first two but we're full to give you a bed I'm sorry to say. Unless you want to sleep by the fire".

Fear of vampires was keeping everyone in after dark it seemed. That was highly sensible in opinion and until I either infected myself with lyncanthropy or learned the Fire Breath Shout I would be staying indoors as well when the sun went down.

"Sure if you've got a spare blanket and a pillow".

The woman told me that she did and after I paid her I took a seat by the fire in order to warm up.

Finally I was somewhere warm, dry and somewhat safe. After a day spent walking my feet ached so badly that I had to take off my boots and to my annoyance I discovered that my socks had holes in them.

"You give me a copper piece and I'll darn those for you" offered a woman sitting close to the fire with her daughter.

"There a bit sweaty" I warned while taking them off.

She snorted and said.

"I've cleaned puss filled wounds and mended clothes worn by the dead. A man's feet ain't nothing to worry about.

Seeing no reason not to talk up the offer I handed her the socks and a copper piece. From the gods only knows where she produced a needle and thread and started to mend my damaged clothing.

"Any requests?" asked a light haired blond bard as he circled the room.

My eyes roamed the room and I began to remember that this bard greatly bothered the single mother who worked a market stall. I couldn't tell if the woman darning my socks was the same woman who pays you to beat up the bard in the game, but if he was she showed no signs of being upset by his presence. Then again given the vampire menace such issues would seem unimportant in the grand scheme of things and neither of them would want to risk getting kicked out of the inn this night so they seemed happy to ignore each other.

"I like Age of Aggression" I remarked.

"Only true Imperials request that one"

After handing over another coin the bard started to sing and his time was good as my ale was served as he began.

_'We drink to our youth. To days come and gone'. _

The Redguard who served the food came up to me with a bowl full of stew and I remembered that there was a quest involving her problem with some Hammerfell natives. The details escaped me right now but surely I'd find myself helping her out a some point (or at least I would if her cooking was good) and by doing that I'd earn myself some minor reward as that was the life of an adventurer.

_'The Age of Aggression is just about done'. _

What followed was a pleasant evening of good food, good drink and some agreeable company. As time passed I ended up sleeping on the floor with half a dozen other people and despite the fact that I wasn't the most sociably of people I didn't mind the company at all.

Yet as I drifted off to sleep I couldn't help but feel concerned over my new life. True I had adapted quickly but I still had my doubts about my chances of more normal circumstances such worrying thoughts would of kept me up half the night but I was to tired to stay awake and soon I was asleep.

**Jorrvaskr. Whiterun. Skyrim.**

Since the Jarl didn't hold court until a few hours after sun rise and I had been woken up at the crack of dawn by someone's toddler this gave me some time to kill.

Lacking the funds needed to upgrade my equipment and having already broken my fast with a light morning meal I decided the head over the old building that the companions called home.

Jorrvaskr reminded me of the types of buildings the Vikings would make use of as a feasting hall. I could imagine it as a place filled with celebrating warriors who would indulge in heavy drinking after successfully raiding the villages of people who had likely been my ancestors since I was of Celtic stock.

I really hoped that my attempt to join such a group didn't insult my heritage somehow but I was pretty sure that my forefathers would forgive me given that these warriors were my best chance of surviving on this alien world.

"Hello, again".

Upon entering the meed hall I was greeted by the Huntress but I ignored her as I was too busy being impressed by what I saw to even noticed the sexy warrior woman. The companions were doing very well for themselves by any standards. I hadn't seen a nicer place so far. Even the Jarl's court didn't have this kind of splendour.

Everything from the jugs to the smallest knife and fork was made from silver (which struck me as odd given that werewolves lived here) the carpets were plush red and wood was of the finest quality.

"A guy could get used to this" I muttered to myself "I could so see myself living here".

"Only if you are accepted" remarked the Huntress.

The werewolves here must have enhanced hearing even when not in beastform because there was no way she could of heard what I said otherwise.

"Come on I'll take you to the old man" offer Aela.

I couldn't understand why I did it but I followed the Huntress like a eager puppy as she led me downstairs to met the man who was as much of a leader as this leaderless group had.

_'We're the children of Skyrim and we fight all our lives'._

Damn catchy bard tunes, they always get stuck in my brain.

"So who's this oddly dressed boy?" asked the old man.

I really wished people would stop commenting on my clothes. It wasn't as if I had enough local coin to go clothes shopping, and they didn't exactly have a GAP here in Whiterun so my debt card was useless.

"Bah he looks weak" commented a dark haired warrior "and fat".

Okay so I was a little overweight but I wasn't going shed the excess in just a few days it would take weeks for me to get into what they would consider decent shape and I was a better fighter than the average Nord.

"He went into battle with a giant armed only with a sword and he has good aim with a bow".

My chest swelled with pride as Aela talked me up but it deflated quickly when I realised that I gave too much weight to her opinions of me. I'd never would of cared about some random woman's judgement if I was back home.

The dark haired man mumbled something about me having no great deeds to my name and I had to comment on this.

"Hey its not like I know who you are" I pointed out "and I can always lose weight while you will always be ugly".

Rather than be insulted the warrior began to laugh and the others joined in.

"You have spirit" said Kodlak in approval "but while a fighter needs spirit he also needs skill".

The grey bearded man turned his younger friend and said.

"Take him outside and see what he can do".

Since I knew what to do at this point I didn't wait to be shown the way. I headed outside and dumped everything but the clothes I was wearing and my sword onto a small table.

"Okay let's see what you've got"

The man who I still hadn't been introduced to, but I knew to be Vilkas, lifted his two handed sword and suddenly looked very menacing.

"Okay eye of the tiger" I told myself and the remarked greatly confused my opponent but not enough to stop him making a lazy swing at me with his sword.

Rather than try to stop this troll sized man's swing by blocking I took a step back in order to avoid the blow.

"Stop dancing and fight" the companion ordered.

Knowing that speed was my only advantage here I stepped forward and whacked him on the chest plate with my sword.

Aside from making a loud noise the blow had no effect and the werewolf made another slow but powerful move. This time I blocked and a shock went up my arm.

"You badly need training" the man remarked.

Well to be fair he was far tougher and better equipped than the Stormcloaks that I'd killed had been. His steel armour was much more durable than what the rebels had been wearing.

"Pick up a shield" was the next command.

As I did as I was told and blocked the next blow with greater success. When he tried to strike me again I brought the shield up and the pushed his blade aside before hitting him on the shoulder.

"Your sword is sharp enough to cut flesh but you need more power behind your blows" advised the veteran.

The sharpness of my sword was the only reason that I was still alive. It was a good blade, well made and greatly cared for but it wasn't enough for this foe.

I blocked another strike and then put more effort into my attack. This time the werewolf grunted in pain.

"You have potential" the sword wielder decided "you will learn fast. Assuming you don't get yourself killed".

What a morbid fellow.

"If your facing someone in armour and like to swing at them like a lumberjack you might well consider using an axe" suggested Aela who must have been watching the whole time."You'll need armour of your own as well" she added.

"Money's a little a tight for that" I remarked.

"I might be able to help you there" she offered "go to the forge and bring me my shield then we can trade".

Once more I felt a little disgusted at my eagerness to please the woman and I had wonder if werewolves went into heat or something because it just felt so good to be around her.

I forced down these feelings, recovered my stuff and then got the companion's shield as quickly as possible. The elderly smith was friendly but he had no time to chat so I was soon back inside Jorrvaskr.

Softly I made my way to where I could hear Aela talking with a couple of her friends. Their voices were raised so even their keen senses didn't detect me.

"He smells wrong" said the male voice belonging to Vilkas.

"He smells fine to me" replied the Huntress.

"I think he knows, he edgy around us" remarked Vilkas

Odd I hadn't though I was acting edgy or that I smelt in anyway wrong. Damn their enhanced senses.

"We're skilled warriors and he is beardless youth" countered Aela "its only natural that he be somewhat timid around us".

That remark stung a little as the only reason I was beardless was because I'd shaved shortly before arriving in Skyrim. Of course she might not of meant beardless in the literal sense.

"Don't forget that he help us take down a giant" added Aela "that's no easy feat few would of survived that encounter".

Thinking back I came to understand how impressive that must of look but I hadn't really considered the fact that I endangered my own life until after the first arrow had left my bow. Honestly if I had to do it all again I might of stayed out of the whole mess.

"I guess we'll just have to see how he progresses" declared an older sounding male "he's at least somewhat skilled at eavesdropping".

Once again I cursed werewolf senses and tried not to look sheepish while acting as if I had just arrived.

Thankfully no one commented and the men left me in Aela's room alone with her. That perhaps wasn't such a good thing given her effect on me.

"Let's see you will need a shield, an axe and something strong to wear" she said mostly to herself as dug out a set of ancient Nord armour and steel axe "Ah this will do".

It would indeed do. The armour looked rather cool and the axe looked lethal.

"I don't have a helmet so avoid getting hit on the head".

Sound advice.

"I'll take your sword and your coat as down payment. You can make up the difference when you get some work".

I really didn't want to give up my leather jacket. I hadn't been cheap to buy and there was no way I'd ever get another one like it on this backwards mud ball. But in the end practicality won out and I started to empty my pockets.

"What strange things, I've never seen the like" remarked the werewolf as I started to transfer my personal effects to the mage's bag I'd grabbed while getting the hell out of Helgen "these must of have some worth".

Yeah sure a wallet with Earth money and plastic cards, a mobile phone way out its coverage area, a lighter and MP3 player with a dead battery. Yes these were of great worth to the people of Skyrim.

"You should sell these to a merchant, no doubt some collector will want them".

Oh yes I could just see some idiot noble holding a dinner party for all his snobby friends so he could show of his fabulous artefacts from another world.

Wait hold on a second the world was full of people with more money than sense and while my stuff was useless in the extreme outside the twenty first century they might raise a few coins as mere curiosities.

Aela sent me off to sell my junk but she really wanted the jacket for some reason so I got to walk away with the armour, shield and weapons after handing my coat over.

Either she was remarkable trusting or she was planning to hunt me down and kill me if I ripped her off. Having seen her fight I had no intention of doing anything that would upset the lycan.

By the time I'd sold the contents of my pockets, for far more than I should of gotten, it was time to met the Jarl and to get my next quest. But first I had to find out what the local equivalent of a bank was because there was no way I was going to risk getting robbed now that I had enough money to actually afford something worth buying.

As it turned out both objectives were completed by visiting the same place.


	4. Chapter 4

**A.W**

I know what you mean there's a lot of things that don't make sense about the Dragonborn.

Like the Asura's star quest for example. That doesn't make sense because Dragons can't be soul trapped but the Dragonborn's soul goes into Asura's star in order to cleanse it. That shouldn't work because he doesn't have a mortal soul he has a dragon's soul which can't be soul trapped.

Werewolves don't have wolf souls they have wolf spirits in them its a primal possession its a bit like what happens to Xander in the Buffy season one episode The Pack.

We know this because the spirit can be driven out in order to allow the Companions to go their version of Valhalla rather than Hiricne's hunting ground when they die. You have to fight the spirit which looks like the ghost of a wolf.

I like your idea of DBG getting some of the benefits of being a werewolf because his dragon blood allowed him to consume the wolf spirit like it does a dragon's soul. He'd still have to put up with the extra aggression and the restless nature but he's dealing with dragon urges easily enough.

**Z2010Deadmeat **

I different plans for the Oghara Infinium.

**Joe Lawyer **

Oh yes he can skip stuff like for example the Thalmor Embassy. He doesn't need to go there because he knows who the Elves are looking for in Riften. He also knows exactly how to get the Elder Scrolls so he can just go straight to the Wizard whose studying that Dwarf lock box. He could also slaughter the Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood on a whim because he knows exactly where they are and what defences they have.

A.W gave me an interesting idea for how to deal with becoming a werewolf.

Oh he will exploit the local culture, but mostly after he kills the World Eater.

**Selias**

A lighter is of no use to people who can learn to shot fire out of the palms of their hands.

**Dragonborn Gothic. Part Four. **

**Bleak Falls Barrow. Skyrim. **

Once more I was marvelling at how well I'd adapted to my new life. A few days ago I never would of imagined that I could have taken on a group of bandits and then go on to take out another group. But here I was with my bow in hand and an arrow ready to let lose.

I held my breathe and waited for just the right moment. The swirling snow cleared just for a moment and I let my arrow fly. My shot was perfect. The bandit fell off the outlook never to be seen again.

For a while I simply crouched in the snow and waited to see if there was any reaction. I prepared another shot but I doubted that I would be able to take down a running target even with my new found skills. Well not unless it was as big as the giant that I had helped to take down when I met the Companions.

Thankfully I didn't have to try as none of the bandits seemed to have noticed that one of their number had been taken down. This made me grin as it meant that I still had the element of surprise. The other crooks wouldn't know what hit them.

Despite the anticipation of the coming battle I still at once leap into action. For one thing it was cold. I was wearing my all black clothes under Ancient Nord armour but it was heavy and even the lair of fur between the metal and my clothes did little to insulate me from the frigid temperatures. The outfit also smelt really bad but people around didn't bathe much and given that I had been hanging around with Lycans it was important for my scent to blend in.

Knowing that if I didn't move soon I'd end up buried in snow I started to sneak as best I could up the stone steps which led to the door of the Barrow. My stealth wasn't great, as while I was fast becoming a mighty warrior and also great with a bow, I didn't have the skills to make a good sneak and my presence was soon discovered.

An archer took his shot but I knew that a moving target is next to impossible to hit unless you know where the target is going and so I made my course rather erratic.

Sadly for me a large Orc with a warhammer as long as I was tall blocked my path. The alien creature grunted something at me in its barbarian tongue as it swung it massive weapon. I briefly wondered if he was compensating for lack of size in another department but I had to no time for such thoughts, not if I wanted to keep my thinking to much of a brain safe inside my skull.

I side stepped and drove my axe into the Orc's back but this only pissed him off. For a moment I wondered if I would be able to kill the green guy but what I guessed to my high luck stat saved me again as the warrior died due to an unfortunate case of friendly arrow fire.

That left two archers to deal with, but that quickly become one archer as the dark skinned bow man dropped his weapon and charged with a knife. This was extremely foolish as it granted me a living shield once I moved so that the knife user was between myself and the bowmen.

The guy with the knife got in close but I had a hand free, as my shield was still slung over my left shoulder. I shot a bolt of lightening at the knife user but it wasn't enough to hurt him however the attack was very distracting and that gave me time to land a decent kick. When he stumbled and fell to the ground I killed him my new axe.

In the first sensible move these guys had made the last bandit turned to run inside the Barrow, no doubt to alert his buddies. I couldn't allow this and before he could reach the slightly opened double doors my dumb luck struck again and the Dark Elf slipped on the ice. To end his misery I embedded my weapon in the mer's back.

Well that had gone well and had been kinda fun. Also it seemed as if I had indeed been wise of me to spend an extra night in Whiterun in order to train some more as it had made me an even better fighter.

The Companions had taught me well and I got the impression that saw me as some sort of investment, although I didn't know why. I would of liked to have spent more time with the Lycans but I had been charged by the Jarl's court wizard to go after the dragonstone. The job would pay well and I did need the money.

Aela the Huntress had upon seeing me with more gold than I had right to decided that I needed better equipment so while I'd been training she'd gotten me a better axe and had the armour fully repaired. This meant that I still owed her money, but this job should solve that problem and with any loot gained I could start adding to my account with the money lending service offered by the Jarl's adviser Proventus.

Well technically the Jarl made the loans to merchants and stored the wealth of adventurers like myself in the city's treasury but it was Proventuswho dealt with all the money stuff, such as collecting taxes, paying bounties, offering loans, selling homes and land as well as the storing of money.

Thinking about money reminded me to search the bodies of those I had killed. So far all of the criminals had been poor ones and I had only collected a few coins but I knew that every copper piece would count when it came to making payment for what passed for a mortgage around here so I carefully collect every coin.

Hopefully there would be some good loot inside the Barrow, if there wasn't the dungeon delving was not going to be anywhere near as profitable as I had hoped it would be.

Once I was ready to move on I headed inside and saw three more bandits standing around a fire while talking loudly.

I started to become worried about how many bad guys I was going to have to deal with. A lot of people seemed interested in the treasure that could be accessed by use of the Golden Claw. But I was the only one that could make use of the great prize hidden behind the puzzle door so I at least knew that these idiots were wasting their time.

Carefully I tried to sneak closer to the groups of boisterous bandits and this time I managed to get quite close to my targets. With even more carefulness I took out my bow and aimed a shot at the tomb raider who looked the most dangerous.

I actually missed this time but what passed for the fates around here smiled on me as while my intended target leaned forward to check on whatever it was in the cooking pot the man the other side of the fire was there to take an arrow to the knee.

His screams of pain sent the large man and the women into action it also signalled the next stage of my attack plan.

Moving faster than a guy wearing metal armour and carrying three weapons and a shield should be able to I hit the big Nord with my axe right in the shoulder. He went down hard and I got another good whack in before he died.

Quickly I turned to find the woman backing away while the guy with the arrow in his knee tried to pull out his sword.

With the detached coldness of an assassin I slew the wounded man and then turned on the female Nord.

"I surrender!" she called out.

Well this had never happened before. Up until now everyone I'd decided to kill had fought to the death, and often died very easily considering how tough the folks of Skyrim were suppose to be, but until now none of them had been smart enough to ask me to spare their lives. And the tactic worked as despite the fact that I had killed men, women and mer with growing ease I couldn't kill someone who wasn't a threat to me or otherwise soon would be. I just couldn't do it.

"I accept" I said while lowering my axe.

The tension in the room seemed to evaporate as my weapon lowered and the native relaxed.

"We'll... I guess I work for you now" she declared while trying to sound happy about it.

I'd assumed she would just run away or that I'd have to place her under a citizens arrest of some sort. I hadn't thought that she'd think this involved getting a new job.

"Work for me?".

The woman seemed very confused by my question but she did her best to explain.

"I joined this sorry bunch of louts to get rich. I'm a mercenary so if your going after the treasure I'm yours for a cut. If you need someone full time I'll stick with you".

Huh I'd always thought bandit groups kept going till they were all dead. But actually this made sense because why die in a pointless battle if you can just switch sides and work for somebody else. There must be some rules that governed these warrior people behaviour and this was one of them.

"So do you have a group?" my new employee inquired.

"No its just me" I answered.

She seemed startled by this information.

"You took out the guards at the tower and outside the door".

It wasn't a question but I answered it anyway.

"Yeah a little bow work some axe work. It was easy, they weren't exactly well trained or well armed".

Plus I was the Dragonborn. I wouldn't be much a world saver if I died at the hands of some random bandits before I even encountered my dragon. Fate, or the nine.. sorry I mean eight divines wouldn't allow that. Stories don't work that way and this world defiantly had a plot.

The Nord woman seemed a little better about working for me now that she knew how well I could fight. I didn't blame her for thinking me in capable of defeating this many foes as really I shouldn't be able to do the things that I do.

"So what's your name?" I asked the female.

"Allana" she told me.

Pretty name for at least somewhat of a pretty girl, by the standards of her people she was short and thin but by Imperial standards she was actually somewhat attractive. At least she looked clean which was more than could be said for me right now.

"You must be tried" the mercenary commented "let's move these wastes of space and then we can sit and eat".

Moving dead bodies (once you get over the yucky factor) turned out to be work that did make a man hungry and as we sat eating what I hoped was rabbit stew my new sidekick and I divided the loot found in the room.

Since I was in charge, by virtue of being the best at killing, I got the lion's share of the loot and also there was another interesting benefit to being the boss.

"You get first choice of the women but since that's just me...".

I could see where this was going and given how cold it was in here, even with the fire, and it made sense that a bandit of the slightly fairer sex would figure out that its worth pleasing a man to get his protection and body warmth at night.

Also it was getting late so perhaps it would be a good idea to get a few hours sleep and venture deeper into the Barrow once morning came.

Allana didn't even bother getting undressed as she wore a skirt made of fur with nothing underneath. I however had a bit more of chore getting ready for bed as I was wearing heavy armour, but with some help from my new lackey I was soon ready for bed and more importantly ready to fuck.

**Bleak Falls Barrow. Skyrim. **

When morning came I was heading deeper underground with what I hoped was my first of many minions in tow.

Allana had been good company so far she'd spread her legs for me twice already and seemed quite eager for my attentions.

However I decided not to get attached as she was what RPG fans would call a NPC or non-playable character. She'd probably die quite soon as bandits aren't much good when facing the undead and frostbite spiders. But I would make an effort to keep her alive as she wasn't too bad in bed and having a lackey was rather fun. If nothing else she'd at least get to die in battle with was something most Nords seemed to crave.

Moments after we'd started our journey we came across yet another dead bandit and my sidekick knew who he was.

"This is.. well was Guntar. The fool got himself killed by a trap. Amazing that they still work after thousands of years".

The booby traps never seemed to hurt my character when I was playing the game but this was real life so I naturally assumed that the defences this old tomb had in place would be lethal to me as that was just common sense.

I solved the animal themed picture puzzle rather easily and then moved onto to the part where I should been attacked by those rat things, but they never made an appearance so I decided to loot the room and move on.

A few ancient coins were found in the burial jars filled with ashes but that was it. There was no chest full of treasure to be found. Still Allana told me that the coins were gold and therefore worth the same as an gold minted by the empire. Apparently they weren't rare enough to worth more but they were better than finding nothing.

The rest of this part of Barrow was a quiet as a tomb should be and neither myself or my mercenary comrade said anything as we approached the lair of the frostbite spider.

"How many will there be?" I asked myself.

If there was just the big spider then we could take it down with arrows form a distance easily enough as the entrance to this part of the barrow was too small for the oversized arachnid to use.

"There'll just be the one" informed my minion "the spiders set up lairs of their own and brook no trespass".

I'd always wondered why the Frostbite spiders worked in groups in the game. Spiders were not active predators or team players. Most spiders tended to wait for their food to come to them. That was why they span webs they wanted to trap their prey not hunt for it.

"Bows" I whispered.

Slowly Allana and I readied our bows and crept into the room but our stealth wasn't required. The giant spider was to busy consuming its latest meal to notice us.

The thief who had stolen the Golden Claw was being eaten alive but I didn't rush to save him because I would of have ended up killing myself. However once his screaming stopped I signalled and let lose with my bow.

Two arrows embedded themselves into the spiders body but the creature only seemed to be angered by the attack. The with unimagined speed the spider ran across the room towards Allana who who met the charge with an axe. She then, as I had predicted earlier, died in combat.

Ah well perhaps she would make it to Sovengard and soon be getting drunk with the Nord heroes of the past. If so I might run into her later as the Dragonborn has to go there in order to deal with the World-Eater.

These badly timed thoughts came to and end when the spider thing turned on me and wisely I ran away. The massive eight legged creature couldn't follow me but it did watch me with its freaky eyes.

This upset me so I sent some flames its way expecting to at least wound the monster but as it turns out the webs were extremely flammable and the fire quickly spread until the Frostbite Spider was consumed by its burning home.

I cursed when I realised that I could of done that earlier and not only saved myself some trouble but also it would of saved my lackey's life. But after moping about that for a few moments I decided to try and not feel guilty about getting Allana killed. She had after all died the kind of death a Nord wanted and she'd only lived until day because I'd shown mercy last night. However I did promise myself that next time I'd be set the webs alight and let the spiders burn even if the locals didn't like it when warriors used pansy Elf magic tricks.

With everyone and everything around me being dead I moved on and the only body I looted was that of the guy with the Golden Claw. I needed the Claw to badly to leave it behind but I didn't take anything else from the two dead humans and I wouldn't touch the spider for the all the gold in Fort Knox.

Feeling rather angry about how things had suddenly gone so wrong for me I blitzed my way through the undead guardians of the this old tomb and liberal used my flame spell which seemed to become more potent the more it was cast. I knew that sooner or later I'd have to upgrade the spell but for now it did the job and I was found myself at the door with the picture puzzle.

At this point I stopped and calmed myself down if only because I was bone tired. My stamina had greatly increased in the last few days but I simply wasn't used to this level of activity, so I stopped for a rest and something to eat.

Once my body was restored. I opened the door and wondered why the door was easy to open. Maybe it wasn't meant to keep people out but rather it was meant to keep something in. Then again it could all simply be at test of some sort. All the drauger and the traps could be a way of ensuring that only someone worthy of the power within would get to it.

The door opened with agonizing slowness and in my excitement I forgot that things weren't exactly as they were in the game. There could have been a whole army of skeletons between me and the word wall but thankfully there wasn't.

Despite the fact that I ran right to the wall, driven on by the sound of the chanting which came from no where, I couldn't help but admire how beautiful this underground chamber was. The waterfalls and the way the sunlight came in through the cracks in the celling was an awesome sight to behold.

But I had little time to enjoy the view as I soon got to the wall and felt the rush of power as the knowledge of a Shout filled me. I also didn't get any time to figure out if I could use the Shout as the crypt opened and the boss appeared.

As it turned out he could Shout and he did it very well.


	5. Chapter 5

**Reviews**

**Joe Lawyer.**

As the old expression goes 'When in Rome do as the Romans do'.

In order to become part of a culture and also to survive in a harsh one you have to adapt and embrace all its aspects. Sexual attitudes , and sometimes romantic ones, can greatly differ depending on the people around you. Ignoring them or worse trying to enforce your own morality on others just pisses people off.

That said do try to remember that this Gothic is while Human in body he's a dragon in spirit and in many ways in mind as well, so he's not likely to be moral as a Human would be. Of course he's not totally a dragon as he does show mercy and tolerance for others in a way most dragons couldn't.

Yes he is very aware of how the Elder Scrolls world works. More so than most of the locals in fact.

"You get first choice of the women…"

Its a perk of being the boss.

To explain fully, Allana was expecting DBG to be like the men she'd known while being an outlaw but she also understood that DBG was new to the role so she was trying to be as upfront as she could about how he would be expected to act as leader of the pack. Plus she was staking a claim to ho, in order to become the leader's woman if the gang should grow. She didn't know she was going to die and she might not have if DBG had been smarter about dealing with the Frostbite Spider.

I imagine that in the case of captives there would be raping going on but DBG wouldn't do that. He'd kill anyone who tried if he had that kind of gang.

**A.W**

Isn't that sword cursed?

**WarmasterSamiel **

Yes this Gothic is rather pragmatic he has to be if he's going to survive.

**wooden farts there on the go **

Can you blame me? It was just so hard not to write that line.

**Selias **

I intend to create some new Shouts in this story once DBG has a understanding of how the Shouts work. He would need to learn dragon speech as well as how to Shout but then he can create any Shout he wishes simply by carving out new Words of Power. Dragonrend was created by Humans so it is possible and as the Dragonborn DBG should be even better at it.

**Dragonborn Gothic. Part Five. **

**Dragonsreach. Whiterun. **

After defeating the undead guardian of the dragonstone I'd taken the back door out of the Barrow and headed down the mountain into Riverwood. Given how easy it was to escape the Barrow I was now convinced that the places were tests of some sort rather than simply tombs. Why this was I hadn't a clue and it didn't really matter right now.

Once I'd gotten back to Riverwood I'd needed to spend the rest of the day and night recovering from my ordeals. I'd defeated numerous undead on a mixture of adrenaline, luck and sheer bloody determination. My body had demanded payment for that success so I'd had to sleep for twelve hours and eat quite a bit in order to recover my energy.

On the upside at least I was gaining muscles fast and my reward for returning the Golden Claw had been quite generous, not just a cash reward but also a discount at the trader's store. Given how much money I seemed to spending it would be a good idea for me to make use of this offered discount.

It then took me half a day to get to Whiterun (the trip took less time now that I knew the way and had more stamina for long journeys) and by mid-afternoon I was presenting the dragonstone to the Jarl's Court Wizard Farengar Secret-Fire. The Blades Agent Delphine was there as well but I ignored her presence so as not to give away just how much I knew about what was going on around here.

The wizard had just been telling me how to get my promised reward when a guard came running in shouting 'dragon!' at the top of his lungs.

"You better come too" ordered the Housecarl once she understood exactly what was going on.

I followed the Dark Elf and the guard up to where the Jarl was looking over a map of the area. While the guard made his report I gave the map a look over and noticed that the war seemed to be favouring the Imperials despite the loss of Helgen and the escape of the rebel leader Ulfric.

This didn't surprise me as the Imperial Legion was a Roman style army were as the Stormcloak army was made up of ill equipped ruffians who died far to easily at the point of a sword. It was only a matter of time before the rebellion was finally crushed.

I also started to think about how to slay a dragon, but I only got as far as phase one before my attention was called for.

The Jarl coughed rather forcefully and I turned to see that everyone was looking at me.

"I want you to go with them" commanded the Jarl "you were at Helgen which gives you some experience with dragons".

Well yeah I knew how best to run away from them, but on the other hand I could see his point as at least I knew how a dragon would attack which was a lot more than any of the soldiers here knew.

"Arrows would be best or better yet magic" I suggested "the dragon at Helgen stayed out of sword range so we will need ranged attacks".

"So a few squads of archers would be best" decided the Jarl "maybe from the top of watch tower they can strike at the beast".

Unless they had a few tanks somewhere in storage then that was their only hope, but it wasn't going to be enough.

"Maybe we can lure it down to the ground" I said thinking out loud "in the air it will unstoppable but with some sort of bait it might land. We'd need to stay out of sight otherwise it will simply swoop down and carry the bait off".

"Bait?" asked the Dark Elf Housecarl "what sort of bait".

"A sheep might do or maybe... wait dragons like treasure right?".

The rest of the plan formulated in my mind and I explained what I'd seen at Helgen and what I knew of dragons. Most of what I knew from dragons was all theory but if they had any of the same urges I did then I knew how to lure one to the ground.

"I'm going to need a chest full of gold, your best archers and I think the Companions might be able to help".

The Housecarl snorted in disgust and said.

"Those high price mercenaries. What use will they be?".

I held the palm open up to her as a sign of peace.

"Don't worry I know of a way to motivate them".

**Jorrvaskr. Whiterun. Skyrim.**

I opened the door and threw some of the gold the Jarl had given me to secure aid in fighting the dragon down onto the table.

"Hey, do you guys want to fight a dragon?"

**The Watch Tower. Whiterun Hold. **

"This had better work" whispered the Jarl's Housecarl "or we're going to lose a lot of men".

I didn't have the time need to reassure her of my plan as the dragon appeared and while I worried that someone might run due to panic everyone followed the plan.

The gold filled treasure chest had been left out in the open in order to lure the dragon to us. If the creature was anything like me it should be strongly tempted to investigate the chest in hopes of finding gold it could add to its hoard. Greed was a great motivator and I was sure that the dragon would be arrogant enough to believe that the people of Whiterun were so scared of the dragon that they would try to placate the beast with an offering of riches.

It worked just as I had hoped. My knowledge of dragons, and by extension myself, was good enough to predict their actions. The scaly creature landed and started to circle the chest. It moved around the chest but it was so focused on the offered treasure that it paid no attention to what else might be going on.

That was its fatal mistake.

"Now!" I shouted.

At my signal archers appeared on at the top of the tower and fired their arrows at the beast's wings. I'd known well in advance that we had to damage, or better yet cripple, the dragon's wings otherwise it would simply fly away. This was the most important part of my plan and would mean the difference between success and a horrible death for all involved.

Thankfully it worked the arrows stung the creature enough that it couldn't take off in time to stop the Companions from adding the damage with their oversized weapons as they charged recklessly into the fight.

More arrows rained down from above and I ran down the stairs to go join in with the main attack. The dragon still couldn't take off as even in their Human forms werewolves do a lot of damage and the beast's wings were being battered by many strong blows.

However while its wings were hurt its tail and head were both fine. The tail knocked over some of the Whiterun guards who had joined in the bashing and I noticed that Aela was holding on the tail with one arm while trying to wound the dragon with her sword.

This scene almost made me laugh, but this was not the time for mirth. I had to slay this dragon before it killed everyone keeping it pinned down. I knew if the dragon made it to the skies it would be able to destory us all at its whim.

I readied an arrow and waited until the dragon turned it head in order to unleash an elemental breath attack, of either fire or ice.

Carefully I aimed, stopped my breathing and then let the arrow lose. My attack didn't hit the beast in the eye as I had hoped but somehow ended up in its mouth which at least stopped it from Shouting.

By now the dragon's vulnerable wings had many arrows in them but this didn't stop the overgrown lizard from trying to take off. Despite the pain it must be feeling the creature flapped its wings so hard that those closet to it were thrown to the ground. However the archers, and myself, were far enough way that we were able to lose a few more arrows just in time. This latest salvo seemed to be more than the dragon's wings could stand to endure and the cold blooded beast dropped a few meters before giving up its attempt at flight.

That was when I made my move. I knew that only I could slay the beast in a way that would truly end it's threat so I dropped my bow and drew my new axe which had been a gift from the Jarl. It was heavily enchanted, although I forgotten to find out what the enchantment did hopefully it was something that would aid me in this fight.

While charging forward time seemed to slow down for me and I dropped under a sweeping tail just in time to avoid death. I then jumped onto the dragons neck and held on for dear life as it tried to shake me off. Only by holding on as tight as I could did I avoid being thrown. The dragon stopped to try another Shout and I heard screams as Nords died under fiery breath.

Then arrows, fewer than before, embedded themselves between the creature's scales and I finally saw it bleed. The old motto of 'if it bleeds we can kill it' crossed my mind and I started to chop wildly with my axe.

Amazingly this actually did some harm to the beast. The strong scales of the beast cracked under my blows and soon my axe was striking the meat below the scales. Hope filled my heart as I realised that some sort of amour destroying enchantment must be on the weapon.

The dragon screamed in pain and put more effort into shaking me off but the wound caused great pain when the creature tried. For my part I held on for dear life so hard that my hand started to go numb and I had to close my eyes just to stop the dizzyness but still I hacked at the dragon while all around me a minor war was taking place.

Then suddenly the beast stopped. The ceasing of action did more to throw me off than the creature's best efforts and I rolled down its head onto the thankfully soft ground.

_Dovahkiin!_

The word seemed to be a growl but I understood it well enough to know that the dragon now understood that it was doomed. It tried to Shout once more but my axe came down right between the dragon's eyes.

_Dovahkiin! Aaz! _

And that was the end of it. Well at least until I consumed the dragon's soul.

**Dragonsreach. Whiterun. **

Despite the shocking discovery (well shocking for everybody else) that I was the Dragonborn or _Dovahkiin _the people of Whiterun couldn't be happier.

The survivors of the battle had carried me back into town whooping for joy even though they had left friends behind on the battlefield. I only got let down to walk on my own two feet when the summons from The Masters Of The Way Of The Voice sent people into a bit of a panic and killed the party mood.

Still the good times kept coming as I got made the Thane of Whiterun, which granted me the right to own property, a nice ring of cold resistance from the Jarl, my own Housecarl and finally I was given useless bit of land which would grant me a small amount income.

Then came the talk about me having to go up the mountain to see the Greybeards so they could teach me how to use the Thu'um. I hadn't actually figured out how to use a Shout yet despite having a word of power that I'd learned in Bleak Falls Barrow, so I did need to go and see the monks but I was a little worried about making the trip as while my strength and stamina had greatly improved I wasn't really up such a hike.

"There is also the matter of the dragon's remains" said Jarl Balgruuf the Greater "the spoils are yours by right, but the man who died in the battle have families. While my Housecarl led the men it was your battle plan and you commanded the Companions. Therefore I charge you with deciding how the spoils will be shared".

I gave the matter some thought and tried not to feel guilty over getting people killed. I knew that things would have been a lot worse without my plan.

"How about I use the bones and scales for some armour, then anything left can be sold and the money given to the families".

"I imagine many alchemists and wizards would pay handsomely for dragon parts" commented the Jarl's adviser.

"Indeed" agreed Balgruuf the Greater "but it might take some time to create the armour you desire".

Well there was no real rush.

"Still its a good idea" said the Jarl in an approving voice "Proventus I want you to arrange the sale. Our new Thane will not have the time to deal with merchants if he is on his way to see the Greybeards".

Proventus came over to me to discuss a few minor details and at once I took out a lone in order to buy Breezehome. The down payment lightened my purse more than I would have liked but I needed a roof over my head and at least I didn't have to pay back the money any time soon as the sale of dragon parts (even if it was just bones and scales left) would be rather lucrative.

While the taxman droned on about more matter of money my attention wandered and I heard another member of the court commenting on the idea of a statue but the Jarl's Housecarl shot the idea down.

"Well I am sure that we commission such a thing for our young friend here, but let's wait until his reputation grows a bit".

My guess was that Proventus was hinting about me taking some bounties as that would pay for the honour of a shaped lump of rock quite easily but I wasn't interested in such things right now.

"It can wait" I commented before an argument could break out "I need to get to High Hrothgar as quickly as possible".

With that I headed out while checking my money bag. I'd need a lot of provisions for the trip ahead and hopefully I'd have enough to pay for a native guide who could take me up the mountain.

"Hail my Thane" formally greeted my new Huscarl Lydia "I am your sword and your shield."

I assumed the line 'I am your sword and your shield' was something to be said formally but it had no special meaning for me.

"Err hi" I said by way of reply "I'm the new Thane".

It was then that I realised that Lydia had been waiting for me as if she knew I was going to be made a Thane well in advance. It was possible that the Jarl had planned to reward me with the title if I survived battling the dragon but he must have been very confident in the fact that I would slay the dragon to bother going to all this effort. Perhaps he had already known, or at least suspected, that was Dragonborn. Then again perhaps the Jarl just had planned to give the title of Thane to however slew the dragon and hadn't had a clue who that would be in advance. I might be seeing conspiracy were there was none.

"I will be heading to High Hrothgar in the morning" I told my new and hopefully longer lasting minion "so you should prepare and then get some rest".

"But first we need to do some shopping" I added when it become obvious to me that my Housecarl had nothing to say.

She also seemed to completely uninterested in shopping. This was the first time ever that a woman had not expressed pleasure about going to the shops with me.

Weird.

**Belethor's Shop. Whiterun. **

"Everything's for sale, my friend. Everything. If I had a sister, I'd sell her in a second".

"Is slavery legal in Skyrim?" I asked.

Belethor just looked at me oddly as if I was the first person in history to ever to reply to that statement. I decided the change the subject there and then in order to avoid an awkward situation.

"Err yeah listen, I'm going on a long journey" I informed the shop keeper "and I will need supplies".

That was when my purse got even lighter. This adventuring stuff was a lot more expensive than it seemed.

**Breezehome. Whiterun.**

In my new but mostly empty home (furniture takes time to make) I sat at the table and looked over the map with Lydia as we planned our route to home of the Greybeards.

"We could take a trade convoy to Riften" my Housecarl suggested "then take another trade convoy to Ivarstead".

Unlike in the game you couldn't just take a wagon to any of the Hold capitols. You had to wait for the merchant caravans to set out to where you wanted to go and then join one. These caravans would groups together along with anyone hitting the road to form convoys that were to large and well defended for bandits to risk raiding. Warriors such as myself and Lydia could join these groups for free as extra swords were always welcome.

"That will take weeks" I pointed out "we could go around the Throat Of The World".

Lydia disagreed.

"Clearly do you don't know the area" she replied in a tone of voice that made me feel like a fool "the road by the river is lousy for bandits and by ourselves we could be overwhelmed by one of the larger groups. Taking the road south of the mountain is equally dangerous because of the monsters that make their lairs there. Many vampires have also been seen in the area".

Oh great more walking leeches.

"Fine we will go with the convoy" I decided making it sound as if was purely my choice "go find out when the next one is due".

"Yes, my Thane" was all Lydia said before leaving.

If it weren't for the fact that Lydia was just trying to keep me alive, as my welfare was her primary concern, I'd be a bit miffed about the way she had just spoken to me but I was too tired to care.

Right now all I wanted was a hot meal and a good nights sleep. But since the former involved a non-existent cooking poiy that meant I had to go out to get a meal.

A Thane could eat for free at the Jarl's court but it was dangerous even for one of my skills to wander the streets after dark so somewhere closer would be safer. Somewhere I could return from once the sun had set without much trouble.

Jorrvaskr seemed the best choice. It was closer than the inn and as a member of the Companions, albeit not yet fully, I could also eat and drink there for free.

**Jorrvaskr. Whiterun. **

As I walked into the meed hall of the Companions I had expected simply to find something for dinner, enough booze to get drunk and hopefully a bed for the night if I had too much to drink and couldn't make it home before dark but as it turned out they were having a bit of a party.

"Hail the Dragonborn!" the loud noise assaulted my ears as the cheer filled the air.

It turned out they were having a party to celebrate their part in the battle with the dragon, and I was the guest of honour. It had been a while since I'd been to a party and I decided to have some fun.

In the end I had a little too much fun, but I wouldn't find that until the morning.


	6. Chapter 6

**Reviews**

**Joe Lawyer. **

I'll explain what I can in the most simple way possible.

A Dragonborn is a mortal with the power to Shout like a dragon does. Some say they are dragon in spirit but born as a mortal or that they just have the blessing one of the local gods. Either way they are very rare and very special people.

A Shout is a type of spell but its more to do with tapping into the power of one's soul rather than using magic.

A Dragonborn can consume a dragon's soul and use that soul to power his Shouts. The more dragons a Dragonborn kills the more Shouts he can power.

Shouts are learned from world walls or from people. Shouts are in the dragon tongue so if you understood the language and had enough dragon souls you could make new Shouts. Which I intend to do.

DBG could sleep with this Housecarl, you can marry them in the game, but he wouldn't be as he's getting together with Aela the Huntress. Then again they will be in the wilderness together on cold nights needing to share body warmth.

Sorry but that won't be how it goes. I thought a Dragonborn werewolf would just be silly but he still drank the blood which will have effects.

**WarmasterSamiel **

I'll check the story out if I get time. But not to worry I have loads of ideas of my own for Shouts.

**Alan**

I imagine over the next few years that there will be a lot of Gothics. I might even rent the character out to other writers if they do a self insert a Gothic could be part of.

**Dragonborn Gothic. Part Six.**

**The Underforge. Whiterun. **

"What the hell did I drink?"

I hadn't really thought that anyone would answer that question, but I got one anyway as my blurry eyes started to focus on my surroundings.

"My blood".

Final able to see what was going on and I looked to see Aela the Huntress and Skjor standing over me.

I managed to get to my feet and realised that I was for reasons unknown completely naked. Skjor gestured to my clothes while Aela took the chance to snigger at my embarrassment.

"And why am I naked?" I asked.

"We brought you here to give you the gift of Beastblood" explained Skjor as I quickly got dressed "but it didn't work".

Before I could ask the Huntress explained further.

"From what I remember you drank my blood, vomited and then passed out".

Well that at least explained the odd tastes my mouth.

"For some reason your immune" she finished after a pause.

"That's never happened before" commented the bald headed warrior.

So I couldn't become a werewolf then. That was a bit disappointing.

"Maybe its because I'm the Dragonborn" I reasoned.

Neither of the Companions had anything to say on that, but to me it made some sense as a Dragonborn is suppose to be a dragon in a mortal body. Given that I wasn't exactly human any more it was somewhat understandable that a curse meant to transform a human wouldn't work upon me.

On the plus that should mean I couldn't become a vampire either. That was a weight off my mind.

"But you smell a bit like one of us" informed Aela.

Skjor nodded his agreement.

"You smell like a dragon too, something in the scent reminds me of the one we helped you kill at the Watchtower".

I gave the matter some thought before speaking.

"Maybe the dragon soul in me consumed the wolf spirit like I consumed the soul of the dragon I slew".

There was no way to know for sure as Dragonborns are extremely rare so it was unlikely that any of them had tried to become werewolves until now. In fact werewolves might not of even existed last time there was a Dragonborn about. Also we were the creations of Akatosh so the curse/blessing of a Daedric Prince shouldn't mix well with that. It the blessings did react well to each other then the dragon in me would easily defeat the wolf spirit trying to enter my body.

"I'll be right back" stated Skjor who left without explaining why.

"I think we might be able to test you and find out" offered Aela "werewolves are immune to poisons and we have some that aren't lethal".

That had been Skjor's thought as well. He came back into the underforge and poured something nasty looking on a blade.

"Hold still" he orderd.

I was a little nervous about him cutting me but if he'd wanted to hurt me he could of done it while I was out cold.

"Ow" I said and I reflexively moved my arm.

"Poison" he explained "it should of paralysed you, so your immune".

Knowing that it was important to avoid infections here in Skyrim due to their lack of antibiotics I used the Heal spell to fix the damage.

"And that was a silver knife" added Skjor "you shouldn't of been able to heal that wound so easily".

Well this was neat.

"Well it looks as if I got the benefits of being a werewolf without actually becoming one".

That supported the idea that my dragon soul had absorbed the wolf spirit and granted me the beast's powers.

"You might share our immunity to disease as well" reasoned the Huntress "try drinking some more of my blood".

I didn't really want to do that but I did it anyway and nothing at all happened.

"Yeah your immune" concluded Skjor "otherwise you'd of passed out again".

That didn't quite compute with me but dark curses from a demon god don't have to make sense. If they did they'd call it science rather than magic.

I took the time to put my armour back on, it had been so scattered around the room that I must have been wasted when I took it off.

"This might effect you chances of entering the Circle" warned Aela "some of the others won't want you rising to highly in the ranks".

Well that didn't bother me much as I had lofter ambitions than merely being a Companion.

"You should be careful none the less" urged Aela when she saw I was going to leave "you might still experience our heightened senses and bloodlust".

Well I was already getting strange urges form my dragon blood. The desire to horde wealth was strong me and I got the occasional desire to dominate all mortal life in the world. But to be fair I'd felt that a few times while living on Earth so it was nothing knew to me.

"I'll be careful" I promised Aela as I headed out of the Underforge and into the still dark streets of Whiterun.

**Whiterun. Skyrim. **

The next morning I was stepping out of my house (hangover free) intending to find something to occupy myself with when I heard the argument taking place at the nearby blacksmiths.

"We'll pay whatever it takes. But we must have more swords for the Imperial soldiers".

Wars are a resource hungry thing so it was hardly surprising that the Legion was having some logistical problems.

"I just can't fill an order that size on my own. Why don't you swallow that stubborn pride of yours and ask Eorlund Gray-Mane for help?".

Even I knew that was a waste of time. The Grey-Mane clan had rebel sympathies and they butted heads with the empire supporting Battle-Borns quite often on this issue. In my mind it was only a matter of time before they started their own civil war right in Whiterun.

"Ha! I'd sooner bend my knee to Ulfric Stormcloak. Besides, Gray-Mane would never make steel for the Legion".

"Fine, have it your way. I'll take the job, but don't expect a miracle".

I began to sense an opportunity for profit here and the chance to acquire some further skills. With this in mind I approached the blacksmith Adrianne Avenicci.

"Got some good pieces out here if you're looking to buy. More inside".

I found it very strange how these people sometimes quoted lines from the game even though they were clearly real people.

"I'm not here to buy" I explained "I couldn't help but overhear that your a little overworked and I was wondering if you might need an assistant someone who can run errands for in exchange for being taught the basics of blacksmithing".

"I can't really afford to pay a novice".

Smiling my most charming smile I said

"I was thinking of paying you actually. I'm waiting for the caverns so I need something to do for the next couple of weeks".

The Imperial woman thought it over and then said.

"Very well, you can start by delivering this sword to the Jarl's steward. He's my Father".

Actually there was a certain resemblance when she mentioned it.

"Okay I'll do that".

I do that task and any other she set me as becoming a blacksmith was something that interested me and it would be a very useful skill for me to have. Plus it would make the next two week pass smoothly enough. I needed something to do and I couldn't spend the next fortnight with the Companions. Well perhaps I could but since I wasn't a werewolf I'd never really belong in the circle so that meant finding a group outside of werewolves to belong to. Perhaps I could start my own gang.

**Whiterun Stables. Skyrim. **

After weeks of waiting the trade convoy to Riften was finally ready. It should of left a few days ago but delay after delay had set the departure date later and later until things finally got sorted out.

At least I had been able to spend the time gained by the delays wisely. Aside from learning the very basics of blacksmithing I had learned to ride a horse well at least enough for the trip.

Also I had ensured that there ample supplies for the journey. Even after I found that Aela wanted to tag along. Why the werewolf who had failed to turn me into one of her own wanted to join me on the long road to Riften I hadn't a clue and when asked she simply diverted the question by giving answers that always led to her speaking about how great it was to be in the wild and on the move. These unsatisfactory answers left me to guess at what her true motives could be. Still I couldn't complain about her presence on this trip as I had many more questions for her some of which she might have answers for.

In fact there was a lot I wanted to know about the werewolves and about myself. I wanted to ask her what it meant to smell like the wolf even though the dragon overpowered it.

I didn't transform when I'd drank the blood. I couldn't transform into the Beastform now as I wasn't really one of them. However I had been infected so did that mean that I in turn could infect others? And what about the bloodlust? Did that create a noticeable change or was my growing desire to do violence due to the fact that I now had two dragon souls within me? There was other stuff as well but that sort of paled in comparison to what I needed to know about being the Dragonborn.

Well at least the Greybeards would be able to help there, assuming I ever made it up that damn mountain. What I wouldn't give to be able to call a dragon down so it could give me a lift.

It was then noticed that the convoy was at least starting to move.

"Lets get going" I said to my two partners in crime.

"Yes, my Thane" replied Lydia.

Aela the Huntress said nothing and simply walked along me as I rode my horse on the long journey to Riften.

**Skyrim. Wilderness.**

Everything on this trip had been as well as could be hoped. There had been no random encounters with monsters, no bandit attacks, no dragons swooping down from above, not so much as a mudcrab had bothered us.

But now something terrible had happened, something I'd not imagined that I would have to deal with, something that I could not prepared for and I didn't have a hope of success.

It was my turn to provide the entertainment.

The rest of convoy (a group made of Breton merchants, those cat people traders and armed guards) had all taken turns in spinning a tale or by leading the group in one of the bard's songs. Which were somewhat embarrassing since there were songs about the Dragonborn, who was me.

However I had no musical talent whatsoever and even if I did no one but me would of understand half the lyrics of the songs I knew off by heart.

Also didn't know any stories that weren't for children well enough to recite them from memory.

"Truth now, Thane. You must have tales from your homeland" encouraged a rather charming Breton man "tell us of your world at least. What marvels does it have?".

I'd avoided talking about Earth as while to natives of Skyrim believed me when I told them that I wasn't just from some remote part of Nirn there was no mutual frame of reference that would allow to me explain life on my planet. Sure I could understand their world but that was because my own ancestors had lived lives that weren't that different from how people lived in Skyrim. But how could the Nords, or anyone else in this world, understand mobile phones, games consuls and kebabs when they hadn't even invented the sandwich yet.

"Your world must have great heroes of legend that you can tell us about" insisted the Breton's wife.

Wait that could work. Earth had myths and legends that these people could relate to.

"Well sure" I replied "plenty in fact. We have many great heroes ranging from kings to knights, to demi-gods".

"What's a demi-god?" asked one of the kids/kittens who seemed to live in the caverns

"A demi-god is a man born of a mortal woman but whose father was a god. They were great heroes who slew terrible beasts" I explained.

Well it could work in other ways than that, but there was no need to overcomplicate things.

"Tell us a tale about one of these demi-gods" requested a guard.

"Okay then" I muttered while thinking about how to start.

Hercules would do I could borrow from the TV show since the true Hercules wasn't much a hero in my view.

"_This is the story of a time long ago_ – a time of myth and legend. When the ancient gods were petty and cruel, and they plagued mankind with suffering, only one man dared to challenge their power... his name Hercules".

After borrowing the introduction I went on to tell of the fictional characters adventurers starting with the films before moving onto the TV series. Often I mixed episodes up and filled in blanks with stuff I made up but it wasn't as if any of these guys could go on the net and check.

All in all it went down very well I kept a rapt audience until nightfall and even when the camp was set up I was pestered for more stories. At the rate things were going I'd have to include the tales of Xena Warrior Princess next.

Or I could try Conan, he'd go down well with the Nords.

**Riften. Skyrim.**

"Typical" I muttered to myself "we were on the on the road for two weeks without trouble as soon as we get somewhere supposedly civilized then that's when the trouble starts".

The bloody gate guards had prevented anyone who was part of the convoy from entering the city by demanding that they pay the visitor's tax.

"For the privilege of entering the city" said one of the guards in a very unconvincing manner when question as to the purpose of the tax.

"This is obviously a shake down" I commented very loudly.

The trick worked just as well in real life as it did the game.

"Keep your voice down and we will let you in" the other guard, clearly the brains of the operation, stated.

"I'll see to your horse, my lord" said Lydia as I led the rest of the group into the city.

Hopefully the Housecarl would be able to catch up to Aela and I without any trouble. She was a skilled warrior so I assumed that she be fine on her own and if she wasn't, well I pitied the fool who messed with her.

That guy who bothers you upon entering the city was absent at this time but I felt sure that at some point he'd make an effort to annoy me while I was minding my own business but he'd wouldn't be very intimating as compared to giant spiders, and dragons no Human would seem scary.

"Oh thank god a pub" I nearly shouted as I made my way until the local watering hole.

Before I could make to the bar a local priest started to give the old fire and brimstone sermon but I really didn't want to hear it so I took the guy aside and donated a few gold coins and got myself an Amulet of Mara after another donation.

"Your seeking a wife?" asked the Huntress when she saw me with the amulet.

I soon put the enchanted item away in my bag. She noticed this action but kept taking about the subject despite the fact that I clearly didn't want to.

"You'll have no trouble" the Companion assured "your a dragon slayer and a noble. I'm sure that many a fine woman will take you up on the offer".

I'd swear that she waited until I was chugging down the beer that I had finally been able to order when she said the next part.

"But since your unattached how about we share a room this night. I'm sure your very skilled between the sheets".

It was then I discovered that it was in fact possible to drown on dry land.

"What!" I said between coughs.

It hadn't been meant as a question, I'd meant it as nothing more than an expression of surprise, but she thought I was genuinely confused or at least that I had misheard her.

"I want to have sex with you" Aela clarified.

At this point I was glad that we had already sat down because otherwise I would fallen on my ass.

"Are all you Nord women so forward?".

This time it was a question and I did want an answer.

"Life is short here in Skyrim" the Huntress explained "I'm sure in different in the land of Earth but here we warriors know that you have to grab what joy you can when you can".

There certainly was a live fast, die young mentality around here but given the world might end soon I couldn't really blame Aela for a little carpe diem.

"Well can I buy you dinner first?" I asked.

I hadn't been concerned about romance with the Allana since I'd known she'd die soon after I'd meet her and at least her last night on Nirn had been somewhat pleasant. But with Aela it was a little different I knew her I'd broken bread with her. Heck I'd drunk her blood once, and you'd think that would make the prospect of having sex with her seem unimportant but it was still a little odd.

"How about we take separate baths, and then you can pay for my meal" offered the werewolf.

Bathing in Skyrim was mostly done in streams due to the lack of indoor plumbing, but you could take a proper bath in a private room if you had a few silver coins to spare. Filling the tub took a while but we weren't in any rush.

"Not a bad idea" I commented.

I imagined that Aela wanted to shave her legs, or whatever it was she did before mating, as for me I just stank to high heaven and I really wanted my clothes cleaned. Thankfully there's always someone around willing to repair and wash your clothes. I could also buy some clothes to wear in the meantime.

"Rent a room I will met you there after the sun sets"

I wasn't normally into dominant women but there was something about the Huntress that made me want do whatever she said and to reassure my masculinity I told myself that at least I was getting laid tonight.

**Riften. Skyrim.**

"Your stamina is impressive" commented my bed partner as we laid on the bed next to each other buck naked and covered in sweat.

That wasn't quite what a guy wanted to hear after doing his best to bring a woman to orgasm but it could be a lot worse. At least she was eager for more judging my what her hand was doing with my currently soft manhood. Her attempt to coax life out of that part of my anatomy was a bit wasted right now but it felt nice enough so I wasn't going to complain.

"I've been getting a lot of exercise recently" I said to Aela.

She should know given that she was one of the people who had been training me over the last month or so.

Wow had it really been that long. Two weeks waiting for the caravans and then two weeks travel time during which she'd taught me a few tricks. So yeah a month.

Where had the time gone?

Well at least I knew where the this evening had gone. I'd brought the Companion dinner, had a few drinks and then gone to the room I'd rented were Aela had stripped nude without any need for foreplay.

Then when she'd presented herself for a fucking doggy style I'd almost laughed but whatever physical attraction there was between us overrode that desire and I soon started to fuck her in a way that allowed for very deep penetration. Which may have been the reason as to why she offered her body up to me that way.

Some movement of the shadows out of the corner of my eye drew my attention and I heard a floorboard creak as someone outside the door moved. Before I could do more than grab a nearby dagger. Aela was out of bed and across the room. By the time I was standing up she had the door open and we both saw the Dark Brotherhood assassin standing there.

He, or maybe she, must have been distracted by our nudity because it the spilt second the assassin froze gave the Huntress all the time she need to attack.

What she did to the assassin was brutal and even more amazing to me at least was that she didn't need to transform to do it. With her bare and human hands she tore into the assassin so badly that blood was sprayed across the wall.

"Aela stop" I commanded and to my surprise she obeyed me "I need to examine the body".

My viewing of the messy corpse only confirmed what I already knew but I also found the contract on my life, sadly it didn't say who had issued the death notice just that they had paid in advance.

"Great now the Dark Brotherhood is after me" I moaned.

Clearly this assassin had been a mere novice, but that just meant that next time they would send someone with more experience.

"That killed the mood" I moaned again thinking that any chance of more sex was off the table.

"Actually a good fight makes me rather amorous" corrected Aela.

Well a fight might make her horny but I had no desire to fuck next to a dead body.

"Lets call a guard and see if we can get another room" I decided "then we'll see about the sex".

It was at moment which Lydia appeared also naked but with a sword in hand.

Needless to say things got very awkward from there on out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Reviews **

**Joe Lawyer**

Sometimes a situation is awkward even though it doesn't really have to be. The scene was meant to be a bit of comedy but I have trouble being funny when writing as my own sense of humour is rather spontaneous and witty.

Anyway I doubt Lydia would have been in the mood as its her job to protect her Thane but she failed in that task. Which was also why it was a bit awkward for her as Aela did her job for her.

Yeah DBG is the Alpha of the pack but he's adjusting to the role and he has a lot to deal with. Its clear that Aela wants to submit to DBG but she's more powerful than he is at the moment and he's still unsure of his place in the world he's not exactly had time to seek understanding at least not until he mets the Greybeards. Once he learns to Shout and truly becomes the Dragonborn you will see him become more confident.

Well I'm writing this story for people who know the game well enough that I don't have to explain everything. A self insert depends on the reader having a basic understanding of the world the character is in. If I could write well to describe an entire world without becoming boring then I wouldn't be writing fan fiction.

However I will clear up one matter. In Skyrim an Amulet of Mara when worn is like saying your ready to settle down and start a family. Anyone interested in you as a spouse (you have to earn their interest) can see the amulet and knows that they can suggest marriage without offending you.

Aela isn't sure enough of her feelings to suggest it but there is a women in Whiterun who will marry you if you help get a mammoth tusk which DBG can do. Marriage is a quick affair in Skyrim because as Aela said in the last chapter life is short and have to grab what joy you can.

**Z2010Deadmeat.**

Alduin is suppose to end the world but at the due time, its the reason he exists and why the Dragonborn can't fully kill him.

Actually when you do defeat Alduin some of the dragons do submit to you. That's why there are loads of them there when you return from killing Alduin. Doesn't seem to make much of a difference but maybe it did since the dragons don't go on to kill or enslave the mortal races.

In my story I do plan for some of the dragons to follow DBG but that's a while off yet as he's not even gotten to Wildcallers Horn.

DBG will learn the Shout to raise dead dragons. He could even raise the mortal dead if the gods let them go.

**Dragonborn Gothic. Part Seven.**

**Ivarstead. Skyrim. **

Finally after weeks of travel I had at least made it to Ivarstead. It had taken days for the boat to go from Lake Honrich to Lake Geir but at least I'd been able to bring my horse along for the ride, she hadn't liked the trip but I would need her to carry our supplies up the mountain.

I had worried that I might have had to take another trade convoy over land. One which would have stopped off at Shor's Stone before it turned east and finally made it to Ivarstead, but thankfully there had been a ship owned by the Black Briar Meadery heading for Lake Gier to drop off some of their very nice beer. The Treva River was a lot deeper and wider than it looked on the map so the ship had made good time, at least by local standards, and had docked just outside of Ivarstead.

Now after spending the night in the local inn we were ready to head up to High Hrothgar. I would of stayed longer and dealt with the 'spirit' haunting local Barrow but as it turned out some Warlock had sorted out the problem so I couldn't do it and then claim the Dragon Claw as a reward. Perhaps on the way down I'd simply steal the relic but I didn't really want to deal with more undead right now, at least not until I'd learned how to Shout.

The three of us moved out once dawn approached and we made it to the bridge in time to hear a couple of folks discussing the famous Seven Thousand Steps.

"On your way up the 7,000 Steps again, Klimmek?"

Sadly he wouldn't be, which was shame as a local escort could have been helpful. No doubt this Klimmek knew the mountain well.

"Not today. I'm just not ready to make the climb to High Hrothgar. The path isn't safe".

Didn't I know it, and it was more unsafe now than ever.

"Aren't the Greybeards expecting some supplies?" asked the Elf.

As my group stopped I made my offer.

"I'm heading up there. I can drop off the supplies for you".

Klimmek gladly took me up on the offer but only paid half up front. I didn't really mind as I was starting to run low on funds and I would have to return to Ivarstead in order to get a boat back to Riften in any case so assuming I didn't die on the mountain I would get the full reward for this little quest.

The lack of funds concerned me a bit and dominated my thoughts as my small group started its pilgrimage up the Seven Thousand Steps. Hopefully some of the creatures I'd encounter on the path up to Greybeards would be worth skinning or otherwise have body parts we could sell.

This proved to be true as on the first day up the mountain we encountered three goats, all of which had meat and wool that could be sold, and we also got attacked by a rabid looking wolf who was expertly skinned by the Huntress.

By the end of the day it was impossible to know how far we'd actually gotten due to the mist and the fact that so many of the steps had worn away. I couldn't of counted them even if I'd tried and neither Lydia or Aela could count that well either.

As it got dark we made a camp that was somewhat out of the wind's chilling reach. With my flame spell a fire was started and we settled in for the night. Oddly despite the fact that Nords tended to distrust magic the two Nord women seemed rather impressed with my magical power, or perhaps they were just grateful that I provided fire as it did give us the means to cook part of one of the goats.

The warmth from the meal and the fire made the cold night more bearable, but only by sharing body heat would we be able to sleep through the night in any sort of comfort.

Aela decided to scout on a head but I knew that she was off to hunt in her Beastform which left Lydia and I together to huddle for warmth. She couldn't fail to notice that her presence next to me got me hard but this wasn't the time for sex as it would make us vulnerable should a native predator ignore the fire and come to investigate the smell of cooked meat. So instead of shagging (which would have been a lot more fun) she gave me what passed for a handjob around here which allowed me to relax and finally to get some sleep.

**High Hrothgar. Skyrim. **

The rest of the hike up the mountain didn't take as long my group had made it up further than I had realised over the course of yesterday. Aela, in her werewolf form, had cleared the path for us. And now that the mists had cleared I could see just how high up we really were.

The view was more than I could put into words. I could see at least half of Skyrim from up here. I then got the odd urge to try and conquer everything I could see, but I pushed aside those feelings as I knew I had to focus on Alduin. If I didn't defeat the World-Eater there wouldn't even be a world to conquer.

Once I could make myself stop looking at the wonderful view I then discovered that the Huntress had slain the troll which made its home in a cave near the top of the mountain.

I knew it was her because the monster had been slashed and bitten but also cut open with a knife after it was dead. The creature was horrible to look and very hard to kill if you didn't use fire, this increased my admiration for Aela. It must have been one hell of a fight.

"Troll fat is highly prized by alchemists" informed my Housecarl "a shame that someone got to the kill before we did".

Lydia was assuming that a monster had killed the troll, and in a way that was what had happened, but after that a person had found the body and harvested it, which again was sort of what had actually happened.

Aela herself said nothing on the matter but a while ago I had noticed her carefully place a bundle of something wrapped in a piece of thick hide into one of the bags the horse carried. I said nothing about this as I didn't want Lydia (who might report on my business to the Jarl) knowing the the Huntress was a werewolf.

"It doesn't matter" I said to my servant "we've more than enough furs and meat to make this trip profitable".

The meat wouldn't spoil for a while due to the efforts of Aela as well as the cold and as for the skins they would fetch a good enough price once we made it somewhere civilized. Well if not civilized then at least a place more populated than the home of the Greybeards which was now a matter of mere meters away.

After depositing Klimmek's supplies into the offerings chest my team and I finally entered High Hrothgar.

"Wait here" I told the two women and they both did as they were told.

The Greybeards appeared and then tested me. After they had confirmed that I was indeed the Dragonborn, which involved teaching me my very first Shout. they began my training which took a lot longer than in the game.

Days longer in fact. It might of even been weeks.

**The White River. Skyrim.**

After days of training with the Greybeards, The Masters Of The Way Of The Voice, I felt more confident than I ever had before in my entire life. The power of the Dragonborn was at my command I could now Shout better than Ulfric Stormcloak himself.

Because of my new powers the dangers of the road had lessened. Bandits, monsters and wild animals were of little threat to me, at least not with two seasoned warriors at my side.

There was only one thing that I needed to worry about out here in the wilderness and that was a dragon. So far I hadn't actually seen a dragon, well not since I killed one at the Watchtower, but now and again I saw signs of them.

Like for example a dead giant and what remained of its mammoth herd. The ground was covered in ash and all of the dead creatures had horrible looking burns. The woolly mammoths also had great chunks torn off them like they had been eaten by something even bigger then they were.

"I wonder how close by the dragon is?"

Neither of my female travelling companions had an answer for me and even if they had known none of us wanted to face a dragon, not without a squad or two of archers as backup or at least not without the Dragonrend Shout which would temporally force a dragon to the ground. However I wouldn't gain that Thu'um until after I claimed the Elder Scroll and used it to peer into the past.

Not having the Dragonrend Shout would also present a problem when it came time to prove to that I was in fact the Dragonborn to the Blade's Agent Delphine.

Truth be told I had no good idea on how to take down the dragon Sahloknir when he returned from the dead just outside the small village of Kynesgrove. My only real hope was that I would be able to cripple the lizard's wings before the creature was fully restored to life.

But what if the World-Eater didn't just fly away? What if he got involved in the fight? How the hell could I fight two dragons?

"Come on let's harvest what we can" I told my travelling companions "I know a lady who would be very grateful for a mammoth's tusk".

Ysolda, a young women living in Whiterun, badly wanted a mammoth tusk so that she could present to one of the cat people, and giving her such a gift would make her open to the idea of marriage (or at least it did in the game) and I now wanted a wife.

Well truthfully I just wanted to someone to take care of my clothes, keep my house clean, and to help me to make money. All of his Ysolda could do. In return I'd help her to set up a business and maybe even buy her the Bannered Mare Inn. She'd also get to be the wife of the Thane which was a big deal since it would make her and any children we had pretty much nobility.

Actually I had no idea if the title of Thane was a hereditary one but land ownership normally is so any children I had with a legal wife should at least inherit the land I owned which would set them up for life if I died after defeating 'The First Born of Akatosh' If I should die before killing that damn dragon well then the world would end and such things would no longer matter.

I put such depressing thoughts aside knowing that they were really of no concern until I at last reached Whiterun and once I was there I would have plenty of time to sort out my personal life.

Then I got with the gruesome business of hacking apart bits of animal.

My life was really disgusting sometimes.

**Serpent's Bluff Redoubt. Skyrim.**

_Fus Ro Dah!_

The Unrelenting Force Shout scattered the Forsworn across the camp they had made in this part of the Reach like they had been brushed aside by the wrath of the wind itself.

After spending the better part of a week to get here in felt good to finally see an end to the quest in sight and I eagerly ran into the fight killing the first Forsworn to get to his feet. I was also feeling glad that the Greybeards had taught all three words of Unrelenting Force. The days spent training had been well spent, without them these whack jobs would have been much harder to defeat.

My one handed axe cut through what past for armour with these freaks rather easily and I was glad for the helmet I now wore because the blow had the guy's blood squirting out everywhere.

That was another thing different than in the game, people bleed a lot when you hack into them with steel weapons so much so that you could drown the grass with the red stuff.

But it wasn't the bloodshed that bothered me, no it the Forsworn themselves. These guys were insane, they worshipped some sort of Old Gods which were not Divine or Daedric.

Once I'd killed the last of the Forsworn, and Aela along with Lydia started to loot the camp, I took the chance to have look around and got the distinct impression that these Forsworn worshipped something that could be close pals with Dread Cthulhu, but the amounts of goats heads around also gave the place a very satanic feel.

Well whatever it was that they worshipped was clearly not a god (or perhaps gods) that sane people wanted anything to do with. I knew that religion could make people do stupid things but when it gets to the point where you hacking up livestock to make alters and carving really weird runes into Human skull a persons should really stop and think about converting to something a little more reasonable, like say Scientology.

"Once we find Ysolda I want to burn all of this" I told my fellow warriors "its all very unnatural".

Given that this was coming from a guy from another planet who consumed the souls of dragons that was saying much. A lot of what the locals would call unnatural was quite normal to me, even magic, but they too agreed that there was something wrong with the Forsworn had done here.

"Where is the woman?" asked Lydia who had already sought her out.

The Huntress sniffed the air, without being obvious about it, and then led us off to find Ysolda.

Sometimes I found myself wishing that I had her senses but then again given how bad things smelled around here perhaps not having a wolf's nose was in fact as big of a blessing from the Nine Divines as was being the Dragonborn.

The Huntress found Ysolda tied to a stake not far from the camp, as to why I could only speculate, perhaps they intended to sacrifice her to some demonic deity or she could have even been tonight's dinner for all I knew. But whatever horrible fate they had planned for her it would now not come to pass.

"Hello, Ysolda" I said in a tone of voice meant to calming "glad I found you. I have that mammoths tusk you wanted".

Understandable she was a little surprised that Gothic the Dragon Slayer and Thane of Whiterun had come to save her but my soothing words had the desired effect. They also rendered her speechless but at least she wasn't breaking down into tears or screaming her throat raw. If she had I wouldn't of been surprised as my team and I must of looked very fearsome what with being covered in blood and carrying so many weapons.

"I also planned to marry you" I told her "that's why I got the tusk".

The Nord women was perfectly calm. I found that odd as if I had been kidnapped by Old One worshipping nutjobs I'd at least be a little upset but Ysolda just seemed to be happy to see us. Only in Skyrim could something like this be considered a run of the mill thing.

"I'm flattered" she replied once I cut her free.

It was hard to see under the dirt on her face but she was quite pretty, the dress she wore was old and not very flattering so I could only hope that she had a nice body.

"Is that a yes?" I asked.

She paused to consider my offer and I planned to give her all the time she needed as it was after all a major life altering decision, but she didn't need long to make her mind.

"You just saved my life. How could I say no?"

So it turns out that in Skyrim the hero does get the girl. I hadn't really expected a no, but I had thought she would take sometime to think the offer over. However perhaps I shouldn't have as marriage was a simple affair in these parts. If two people thought they would be a good match they went for it, and you don't get much more romantic than saving the girl from being (possibly) sacrificed to the Old Ones.

She also never asked how I knew she wanted a mammoth's tusk but it the grand scheme of things it wasn't really important.

What was important was getting back to Whiterun before more Forsworn found us or worse the whatever it was they worshipped might notice that their worshippers here were all dead and decide to do something about it.

I really, really didn't want to fight any tentacle monsters.


	8. Chapter 8

**Reviews **

**Hypnosis Writer. **

I have lots of ideas for Gothics. Too many ever write about.

Sounds like you'd like to read Slider Gothic. A new world every chapter some fictional worlds that people know some really strange worlds made up by me while others are just slightly different versions of our world.

**Mmsbddvr **

I'd rather not watch such a thing either. I had a bad experience with a hentai video once as a kid. I still can't get the images out of mind.

**A.W**

Lots of reasons. She's native to Whiterun so marrying a local makes him seem more like one of them. Having a wife means children to inherit his Thane title (if its hereditary) She somewhat ambitious, granted her dream is to buy an inn but that's more than can be said for a lot of other characters. She has connections to the Khaijt traders (one turns up at the wedding) she has a house that can be sold to raise funds. She's not a warrior so she won't be following him around as he goes on adventures which leaves him free to keep sleeping with Aela if he wishes to. Since she's unlikely to die with DBG in battle that doesn't leave any orphans behind. She's someone to keep Lydia company if he leaves her at home. She can cook, clean and all the jazz. Finally I marry her when I play the game.

**Joe Lawyer **

While it might sound romantic its actually a bad idea to have your spouse go to war with you. Plus its always better to have someone to come home to as it gives you a reason to go home.

Money is another reason to marry Ysolda she opens up a shop when you marry her in the game so that's a source of income and if DBG opens a proper shop then there's someone to run it.

I can't see Aela running the Bannered Mare or selling things in the market. Place. Can you?

**Guest**

Yeah the Asura's Star always bugged me. Maybe it worked because the Dragonborn consented to the act.

Shezzarine as in avatar of Loken. Well I always thought he was Talos in human form return to life because his worship is dying out.

**Dragonborn Gothic. Part Eight. **

**Breezehome. Whiterun.**

It had been a busy week for me. After saving Ysolda from being ritually sacrificed to whatever horrors it was that the Forsworn worshipped. I had then married the Nord woman an event which thankfully hadn't involved having to go all the way to Riften as priests and priestess of Mara tended to visit Hold capitols from time to time. Ysolda and I were quickly married in a small ceremony next to that special tree they have in Whiterun ,which was a standard wedding around here.

Since her home was much smaller than mine I'd decided that it should be sold. Some of the money raised was then used to set up the market stall Ysolda had always wanted. This act would increase my income and if I started to make enough money from all this adventuring I planned to buy my wife the Bannered Mare. Owning the local inn would strengthen my position here in the Hold just as becoming a full member of the Companions had.

Once I had settled my affairs I'd taken my horse down to Riverwood in order to get Windcaller's Horn from the Blade's agent Delphine. She had, as like in the game, attempted to try and take control of the Dragonborn, but I had been rather forceful and told her that it was the Blades who needed me not the other way around so if she wanted to end the threat of the dragons then the Blades would have to work for me. If they didn't then I would form my own party of dragon hunters.

Delphine gave in a little too easily which made me certain that she hadn't given up trying to get me under her control, but such an attempt would be pointless as I had other allies who had a lot more to offer than one middle aged woman who ran an inn could ever provide.

It also helped that I knew more about what was going on than anyone else did. Once I got Delphine to my home in Whiterun everyone sat down at the table and I explained what was going on to her as well as to Aela, Lydia and the wife.

"The dragon who attacked Helgen is called Alduin, he also known as the World-Eater and he is the real threat. Alduin can bring dead dragons back to life unless their souls are consumed by the Dragonborn".

I wasn't completely sure on my facts here. I didn't really think that I consumed the souls but that they sort of passed through me on their way to somewhere else while leaving some of their power behind me. If I did in fact consume their power and knowledge upon slaying the beasts like the legends suggested then I should be able to use the Shouts the dragon at the Whiterun watchtower had and know everything that it knew.

What I was sure of was that I did get more powerful as I 'consumed' dragon souls. This was proven by the fact that I should not of been able to make up the mountain to the see the Greybeards nor should I have been able to slay the dragon at the Watchtower even with help. I didn't have the skills needed to do such things and I was a much better fighter than I should be given my level of training.

"The World-Eater is what we need to worry about. Without Alduin the other dragons have no way to come back and if he is gone they will end up fighting each other or they can be taken down one by one".

It was important to make everyone understand that it was pointless for me to go running about Skyrim taking out dragons. Alduin could always raise more from the dead, faster than I could kill them for sure.

"So what do we do?" asked Delphine who now seemed willing to follow my led.

"Well for starters you need to go to Riften" I told the Blade "a guy called Esbern lives in the Ratway".

"Wait Esbern is alive?" asked the Blade "how do you know this?".

Now I had to lie and to lie well.

"While I was coming to Whiterun to see you a couple of Thalmor decided to try and capture me. They failed and after a little chat one of the Elves told me what they know about the dragons coming back. They know next to nothing but they are looking for a Blade's agent called Esbern whose hiding out in Riften. I've heard the the Ratway is home to the Thieves Guild and others who need to stay out of sight. So if he is in Riften then he's down there".

Delphine seemed to consider my words but it was hard to read her expression since she wore a hood and kept her head low.

"Makes sense" she admitted "I'll go to Riften and find Esbern".

I nodded my agreement.

"Meanwhile I will be visiting the Greybeards in order to formally finish my training. We can met back here or in Riverwood. I think here would be better. I'm to well publicly known to be attacked in Whiterun...".

That was when my door was nearly taken off its hinges by frantic knocking and the voice of a guard shouted.

"My Thane, a dragons been spotted!".

I spoke too soon it seemed.

"Okay so the World-Eater doesn't care how well known I am," I confessed "maybe Riverwood would be better".

Delphine smirked and said.

"Looks like your going to prove that you are the Dragonborn after all".

I really should of known that I wouldn't be able to avoid killing a dragon in front of Delphine but at least I hadn't had to go half away across Skyrim to do it. The dragon had instead come to me.

**Whiterun. Skyrim.**

As I'd guessed it was the same dragon that I should of fought at Kynesgrove.

This was actually good news in a way as if it was Alduin then I'd have no chance of stopping him. However Sahloknir wasn't as tough as the World-Eater therefore the city of Whiterun, and its people, might actually survive this battle.

Already there were archers on the walls trying to hit the swooping dragon as it attacked the city. The overgrown lizard was moving to fast to hit (unless someone got very lucky) but it was also flying to quickly to burn anything, not that it wasn't trying. Thankfully it had rained this morning and still was a little so the scaly beasts was going to have to stop and focus a Shout in order to set the buildings a lit and if it did that then the creature would be hit by arrows.

However burning Whiterun wasn't the point. Sahloknir was not here to destroy a city the winged beast was here for me and since I knew that the only way to beat the beast was to get it to land I intended to do something very brave and possibly insane.

I was going to taunt the monster into attacking me directly. I didn't need to say anything or even move much as my dragon bone and scale armour had been finished and I know wore it. To the eyes of the dragon this made me stand out in the crowd pretty well as its hard to miss the guy whose wearing part of your dead kin.

_AUS DOVAH AL!_ roared the dragon in a voice which filled the air for miles around.

I had just enough time to realise that I knew what Sahloknir had said. In English it would be something like. Suffer dragon destroyer.

As Sahloknir swooped down to grab me with its claws I spoke to the beast.

_Fus Ro Dah!_

The Shout worked just as planned.

Sahloknir was knocked just enough off course that his claws missed me and the dragon collided with the cites main gates at the kind of speeds that would of made any other flying creature a smear on the wall.

However dragons don't die easy Sahloknir was hurt and perhaps even dizzy, but he (or possibly she) wasn't dead yet.

Whiterun guards took the chance to fire a salvo of arrows however they didn't all go for the wings so a lot of the projectiles simply bounced off the scales of the beast like they would off the armour I now wore. Still a few arrows did find soft spots and those arrows hurt Sahloknir.

But not as much as I was about to.

_Viik Vonmindoraan! _

My command of the dragon tongue wasn't good enough to understand what the dragon had just said but I got the impression it was denying the fact that it was about to die. Sadly for the beast denial wouldn't help it.

_Wuld!_

In a blur I moved, so fast that a pair of arrows fired by Aela and Lydia from behind me were overtaken. Then I was there with my axe hitting the dragon in the face it was the same axe that I used before and it broken the tough scales of this dragon just it had before. Also like before I soon found myself on the dragon's neck as it shouted.

_Yol!_

More Nords died as the dragon Shouted but Sahloknir was already dead he just didn't know it. The beast was bleeding and its movements were slowing down. It wasn't able to use its Thu'um again and soon I felt the rush of power once more as I took in another dragon soul. The body of the dragon was reduced to scales and bone as it died but I noticed none of this. I was too busy feeling the after effects of whatever process it was that came with 'consuming' a dragon's soul.

"You really are Dragonborn aren't you" said Delphine as I was helped down from the remains of Sahloknir by the people of Whiterun.

I didn't bother to reply to that statement.

"Go to Riften find Esbern and I'll met you in Whiterun".

Delphine wasn't going to argue with me this time.

"Aela I want you to go with her" I said once all the gang was with me "the Thalmor will no doubt be there so she'll need the help".

I had to go see the Greybeards right now. They needed to gift me with the Clear Skies Shout so that I could up to see Paarthurnaxbecause if the World-Eater was going to be sending dragons directly after me then I didn't have time to play the game right. I needed to get the get the Elder Scroll now and to learn the Dragonrend Shout as quickly as I could. If I didn't then the next dragon I encountered would likely be the end of me as there was simply now way I defeat one on my own.

Not waiting to see if the Blade would obey I returned to myself in order to pack for the coming trip. Getting all the way to the peak of the largest mountain in all the known world would take a great deal of time and effort. I might not return for sometime, if at all. And before I left I needed to better equip myself. Thankfully another dead dragon meant further sales of scales and bones so I would be okay for money again at least for while.

**The Summit Of The Throat of the World. Skyrim.**

That had been one hell of trek but after days of travelling and hours spent recovering at High Hrothgar while trying to convince the Greybeards to teach me the Clear Skies Shout I was finally at the summit. There was no where higher a mortal could be while on Tamerial and the view alone made the trip worthwhile. The aurora (what would be called the Northern Lights back home) had to be one of the most stunning things I had ever seen in my entire life.

Not even the arrival of Paarthurnax, who was the dragon who had taught the Greybeards how to use the Thu'um, could distract me from the view.

"_Drem Yol Lok" _greeted the dragon as it crashed down to the ground next to me.

"Greeting Paarthurnax" I said as a reply.

My complete lack of shock at the dragon's appearance didn't seem to bother the teacher one bit

Up close Paarthurnax showed his age. The dragon was old and grey. His wings were tattered and he was missing a few teeth. Perhaps dragons weren't immortal as many claimed. They might live a very, very long time but in the end death might take them even if I didn't give the process a hand.

"Greetings, wunduniik. Who are you? What brings you to my strunmah ... my mountain?"

I had to be careful here. I couldn't just come out and explain everything that wasn't a wise move. Plus I wanted to learn the Word Of Power the dragon offered so that meant going through the motions.

"I need to learn the Dragonrend Shout" I answered.

That was the truth but I did know that he couldn't teach it to me. Really I should of gotten the Elder Scroll first and then come here but I needed the dragon's help in other ways.

"Drem. Patience. There are formalities that must be observed, at the first meeting of two of the Dov. By long tradition, the elder speaks first. Hear my Thu'um! Feel it in your bones. Match it, if you are able Dovahkiin!"

Paarthurnax then shot a gout of flame onto a wall which somehow created a Word of Power like those found on the World Walls.

"A gift, Dovahkiin. Yol. Understand Fire as the dov do.

I took in the knowledge and came to know the Fire Breathe Shout. Something that would come in handy I knew.

"Now, show me what you can do. Greet me not as mortal, but as dovah!"

Which I did rather well in my opinion but the Shout didn't seem to hurt the dragon at all. If anything he seemed to enjoy the experience. f

"The dragonblood runs strong in you, even if you are a joor. Now we can tinvaak" said the dragon once I had shown him that I had learned the Shout.

I knew that joor meant mortal and that tinvaak was word for a sort of formal conversation between dragons. I might be mortal (joor) but I was also kin to Paarthurnax and so had to follow his species social protocol in this matter.

Once more I asked about Dragonrend, and he admitted to me that he was expecting me to come and ask because as he said.

"Alduin and Dovahkiin return together".

The dragon had been waiting for me ever since the World-Eater had returned to the world. In fact he'd been waiting here for thousands of years since he hadn't know when Alduin would return he'd only where the 'First Born Of Akatosh' would appear. He'd also known that I come here seeking a way to defeat Alduin.

Also I wasn't the first Dragonborn to come here. Paarthurnax had taught Tiber Septim himself (of that I was somehow sure) and perhaps other Dragonborns whose existence was now mere myth and legend.

As I knew Paarthurnax didn't know the Shout, because that would have been to easy, so I wasn't disappointed when he told me he couldn't teach the me the needed Thu'um.

The only way to learn the Shout was via the Time-Wound which was here at the summit. To access the Time-Wound, to see into the past, I needed an Elder Scroll, or Kel as it was called by the dragons. The Kel would allow me to see Dragonrend when it was first used by mortals against the World-Eater many thousands of years ago.

I knew that an Elder Scroll allowed people with certain training to see possible futures (at that cost of that person's eyesight) and the scrolls were said to have other powers as well. If I was able to get my hands on one and bring it here then being the Dragonborn I could access its power despite the lack of training and without going blind.

"Fear not joor, you are chosen. From outside our world you may be but you may still save it".

How the hell did Paarthurnax know that I wasn't from Nirn. I looked like a native and I even smelled like one know, at least according to the Huntress.

Still I didn't really have time to discuss the dragon's ability to detect my otherworldly nature. I had to much to do.

At least I could skip going to the College of Winterhold. I could go directly to Septimus Signus, and ask him about the Elder Scroll. He would hopefully direct me to the Tower of Mzark which was part of the underground city called Blackreach.

I knew that there were other Elder Scrolls about but they might not allow me to see what it was I needed to see so I did go after them they could end up being unless to me (or worse drive me mad or make me blind) and then I'd have to go after the Elder Scrolls in Blackreach anyway.

But I also couldn't go after the Elder Scroll alone. Blackreach was a dangerous place full of monsters and those robot like things the Dwarves made before they vanished. I would need to take my entire gang with me (aside from Esbern who was too old for that sort of thing) and I might even have to hire some extra help.

In order to do that I needed to get to Riverwood which meant picking up Lydia at High Hrothgar and then going all the way down the mountain, then around it.

It was then I thought of something.

"Paarthurnax could I get a lift".

The ancient dragon looked at me quizzically until I explained what it was I needed help with.

"Very well Dovahkiin" said the dragon "but let us not make a habit of this".

Turns out riding a dragon is a lot of fun, or at least I thought as much. Lydia was far less thrilled by the prospect than I had been. I'd never heard her scream before. The woman has a good solid set of lungs.

It wasn't until I reached Riverwood that I realised I'd left the horse behind. Oh well I could always buy a new one.


End file.
